Renegade
by safehavenYJ
Summary: Deathstroke is a man of foresight and precision. For five years he has carefully devised a plan to ensure Dick Grayson becomes the perfect apprentice. Nothing will get in his way, not even the Court of Owls. What starts with an assassination attempt on Nightwing's life leaves the Batfamily with more questions than answers.
1. Prologue

**Renegade**

 **Deathstroke is a man of foresight and precision. For five years he has carefully devised a plan to ensure Dick Grayson becomes the perfect apprentice. Nothing will get in his way, not even the Court of Owls. What starts with an assassination attempt on Nightwing's life leaves the Batfamily with more questions than answers.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

"On July 5th, 2013; you, Aqualad, and Kid Flash infiltrated Cadmus and discovered Project Kr," Batman stated.

"Yes."

"And on July 5th, 2013, you were contained by the head scientist and put into pods."

"All three of us were, yes," Nightwing clarified.

Batman shifted his weight from one leg to another, but his stance remained hardened with anger. "DNA samples were collected before you were released."

"Yes, but—"

"DNA samples intended for cloning. As well as access to your memories."

Nightwing crossed his arms over his chest. "I destroyed the DNA samples collected. Three explosive disks initiated the explosion that destroyed the lab we were held captive in."

The slits of Batman's mask near the eyes narrowed. "How certain are you that the DNA samples were destroyed?"

"I told you," Nightwing repeated, "I destroyed them."

"How certain!" Batman demanded, slamming a fist down on the metal table separating them.

Nightwing's controlled expression on his face faulted. "I-I don't know, 90%? They were destroyed, I know they were." He never went back to check. There was no time. They were destroyed though, right? The DNA couldn't have survived that explosion.

* * *

I've had this idea for a story for a long time, just never got around to writing it. I keep hearing rumors that YJ season 3 is happening some time in 2018, I just hope that's true! Chapter 1 is about to be posted as well. Let me know what you think :)


	2. Chapter 1

**Renegade**

 **Deathstroke is a man of foresight and precision. For five years he has carefully devised a plan to ensure Dick Grayson becomes the perfect apprentice. Nothing will get in his way, not even the Court of Owls. What starts with an assassination attempt on Nightwing's life leaves the Batfamily with more questions than answers.**

* * *

 **Blüdhaven PD**

 **March 2, 2018 4:57pm**

* * *

Three more minutes. Just three more minutes and Dick could check the voicemail on the slick metal phone that was starting to burn a hole in his pocket from impatience and worry. His eyes darted at the clock again, then back down at the paperwork resting all too crisp and orderly on his desk; he had rearranged them four times while waiting for his shift to be over. It was a voicemail from Roy, which couldn't be good. If his shift wasn't about to end, he would have found an inconspicuous way to slip out of the police department to take the call. He was Nightwing after all. How hard would it be to slip past a few police officers? Dick cast a weary glance over at his partner Amy. Well, with her, maybe that _would_ be difficult to leave unnoticed. One more minute. If it was a message from Wally, Dick wouldn't be as concerned. KF's calls were usually social calls, but with Roy… not so much.

An elbow came down on the corner of his desk and knocked him out of his train of thought. "Rookie, you got somewhere to be? I'd ask where the fire is, but that's not really our department. I know it's Friday, but you look ready to bolt for it," Amy spoke down to him.

Dick shrugged, trying to hide his annoyance. He genuinely liked Amy; she didn't sugar coat anything and cut right through the bullshit. That kind of straight up honesty was refreshing sometimes. She was also stubborn as all hell and could give you a run for your money in a sparring match. But most of all, she didn't succumb to the level of corruption that tainted the badges of most officers in Blüdhaven. Dick had only been an officer for a month, but he could tell which officers cared for the citizens of Blüdhaven and which were in it for the power trip.

"What can I say," Dick chuckled, "I'm an attractive young bachelor and it's a Friday," he grinned at her. It was the kind of sheepish grin that reminded him of his days as Robin. Amy looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn't stop the corner of her lip from turning up into a lopsided smile.

She gave his shoulder a punch, "Get out of here, Grayson, it's five o'clock."

He didn't need to be told twice. Dick remained casual and collected his weekend files before walking out the door. The moment he was around the corner, he pulled out the phone, unlocked it, and selected the voicemail.

" _Dick, wipe that concerned look off your face, it's non-urgent. Bane escaped from Blackgate. The League should have it under control, but I know Bats has too much pride to tell you himself and—"_

Bane escaped. That's all he needed to hear from the message before his agile fingers punched away at the phone and called Roy's number. He'd rather talk to Roy than just hear a message.

" _You've reached Roy's other_ _ **other**_ _phone, you know what to do," answered Roy's voicemail._

"Come on Roy, you just left me that message!" Dick growled in frustration before trying Roy's number a second time.

The phone picked up but there was a pause of silence. _"It's just Bane," Roy finally spoke on the other side._

"Just Bane? _Just_ Bane!" Dick hissed into the phone while he began his walk back towards his apartment. He readjusted the strap of his brief case over his shoulder and switched the phone to his other ear. "We're talking about the villain that broke Batman's back. He'll never be _just_ Bane."

" _You think I don't know that?"_ Dick could hear the sigh in Roy's voice. _"The League is out searching for him now, it's handled. If I knew you'd freak out like this, I wouldn't have even said anything. I was trying to be a friend, keep you in the loop. No one else is going to keep you in the loop when things go down in Gotham. You left."_

"Roy," Dick tried to interject.

" _No, I get it. It was time for you to start your own thing. Trust me, if anyone gets it, it's me. But you can't have it both ways, Dick. Either you're still part of Bats' team, or you're on your own."_

Those words stung. "Why did you tell me at all then?" he questioned, the edge of his tone sharpening.

When Dick first made the decision to leave Young Justice and go solo, Roy was the only one that gave him any inclination of support. He was the only one who understood Dick's need to branch out and discover who he was as a hero (and person) on his own. Working with a team under Batman's scrutiny was stifling. And the team was fine without him now. They were adults now, things had changed from how Young Justice was five years ago. A lot had changed.

" _I knew you'd find out on your own anyway. You and Bats still have a chance to fix your issues. I figured at least one of us doesn't have to have a shitty relationship with our mentors."_

Now at the base of the apartment building, Dick stopped and leaned his back against the brick wall. "Actually, things have been better lately. Not perfect by any means," Dick corrected, "Bruce is still Bruce. But I talked to him earlier this week. He asked how things were going, it was a good sign. He didn't sound angry. I don't know," he shrugged and kicked at the ground, "Maybe there's still a chance to mend things with him. Bruce aside, I've started something here. I just need some time to work on my own. I'm not leaving my family behind, alright?"

" _Yeah, sure. I guess I can respect that. Give KF a call over the weekend, would ya? He's like a pouting puppy ever since you left," Roy tone was gruff but then softened, "Really, I think you hurt his feelings or something when you left. Let him know you're not leaving him behind."_

That made Dick frown. He kept up with Wally since leaving, didn't he? Just last week he called him…no, it was the other way around; Wally called him. They didn't talk long either. Dick was still adjusting to Blüdhaven at the time.

He slowly climbed up the metal stair case to his apartment building and unlocked the door, tossed his brief case on the couch, and settled into the arm chair. "I hear you loud and clear, I'll give him a call soon. Do me one favor though," Dick requested, "Let me know when the Bane situation is under control."

" _Already planned on it," Roy said._ Dick could hear an incoming call alert in the background. _"I have to go, don't get yourself killed in Blüdhaven in the meantime, got it?"_

"Yes, mother," Dick smirked. Since when did Roy become the responsible one? The call ended without a goodbye from Roy.

A sigh was followed by Dick running his hand through his hair. He'd give Wally a call around eight; that's when he got off work. See, he wasn't out of touch with his friends. He knew Wally, Dick convinced himself.

Maybe he was getting out of touch with Bruce though. Why hadn't _Bruce_ been the one to tell him that Bane had escaped? Surely Bruce was aware that's information Dick would want to have. They were slowly building their relationship back together, but maybe not as fast as it should be.

Six months ago, Dick had decided to branch off on his own. During that time, him and Bruce weren't on the best of terms. There were a lot of arguments that spurred from the two heroes not seeing eye to eye. Bruce still viewed Dick as the 13-year-old Robin who was stubborn and jumped into action headfirst without foresight. He was an adult now, ready to take on his own cases and take orders from no one but himself. Bruce was angry at first; he didn't understand that Dick needed space as a hero, not as Bruce's adopted son. Dick still couldn't understand Bruce's reaction. He reacted like Wally, taking it personally and feeling like Dick was leaving them behind, but that wasn't the case. It took months to convince Bruce it wasn't personal.

A month ago, Dick joined the Blüdhaven police force and started talking to Bruce again. Progress was slow, but Dick was convinced Bruce was starting to come around. Maybe the man just needed some time to think it through. Dick couldn't deny that he missed his old home and family. Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Tim, and Damian held a special place in his heart. He hated to think he had hurt them by leaving. Was coming to Blüdhaven a mistake?

Dick got up and shook the thoughts from his head. He couldn't be having doubts now, he was too invested in Blüdhaven. Speaking of which, it was early enough to suit up and get ready for tonight's patrol. But first, he'd give Wally a call. Dick snatch his phone from off the counter top and dialed his friend.

The phone rang multiple times before picking up, and when it did, Dick could tell Wally's distant voice was speaking from an ear piece. _"Hey, long time no speak. What's up, Dick?"_

"Social call," Dick said with a smile in his voice, "Is this a bad time?"

" _It's a," there was a pause before Wally spoke again, "Not bad, just chasing down a lead on Bane. He's been evading us, and we don't know why. It seems like he's looking for something, but he's already left the perimeters of Gotham. Not sure where he's heading."_

The space between Dick's eyebrows creased with his frown. Where would Bane be heading outside of Gotham? Was he buying time to make sure he wasn't recaptured?

"So not a good time for a social call. I'll check in with you later. Roy had mentioned something about Bane escaping. Stay safe, don't underestimate Bane."

" _Duh, talk to you later," Wally ended the call._

It was time for Dick to patrol his own city. He suited up and headed out for another night in Blüdhaven.

* * *

Author's contextual side notes: Although this is centered in the YJ universe, I am pulling in anything from Batman comics/animated series, animated movies/etc. This story will bring in Jason and Damian. Maybe a little Tim. As for Roy, in this story he is working with the League. He still has a bad attitude, but it makes it easier to bring Roy in because he's the one friend that understands what Dick is going through. I don't mean to make it sound like Roy is part of the Batfam, just that he's been keeping an ear out for any Gotham updates because he's Dick's friend and wants to help keep him in the loop. If it wasn't obvious already, this story would take place in season 2 after nearly 5 years have gone by.


	3. Chapter 2

**Woohoo, chapter 2!**

 **A bit of a shameless self plug here, but I've created a website for a Young Justice roleplay/rp site. If anyone is interested, send me a message and I'll give you more info. The short info is that it's chatbox style rp, so you don't have to worry about any lengthy forum style roleplay. It's a bit more interactive in real time. All characters would exist in the Young Justice universe but would be original characters, similar to how Cassandra is in this story. Anyway, let me know by PM if you're interested and I can send you the link :)**

* * *

 **Blüdhaven**

 **March 2, 2018 11:37pm**

Nightwing crouched on the ledge of an abandoned warehouse in Blüdhaven and looked down at the city below. It was a cold March night, with chilling winds that played with the tips of his hair and threatened to tug the locks of hair into his face. He sighed and raked a gloved hand through his hair. What would it be tonight? Another drug bust? A domestic dispute? He missed working with his old team; he missed the League. He couldn't leave now though; Blüdhaven needed him.

A crackling volley of gunshots from below reminded him just how much he was needed. Nightwing shot his grappling hook onto the adjacent building and swung down to the scene beneath. The descent reminded him of his old days as an acrobat, but the thrilling drop he felt in his stomach no longer held the same appeal as it once did when he was a young child. There was another popping shot of a revolver and then shouts from the men. Why did they always seem so surprised when a drug deal ended badly? By now they should expect to be double crossed by someone who makes a living selling drugs.

Nightwing dropped down between two men and knocked the first out with a blow to the head before he even had time to turn around and see who had interrupted their deal. The dealer responded by raising the gun with the intent to riddle the vigilante with a spray of bullets. Before the first bullet could be fired, Nightwing lunged for the gunman's wrist and forced his hand and the bullets up towards the sky. Now he was really making a scene that wouldn't be ignored by Blüdhaven's finest. The sound of police sirens in the distance had caused the other men to scatter. Nightwing used the end of the confiscated gun to knock out the dealer and left him on the ground for the police to deal with. Served him right.

With the dealers incapacitated, it was time for Nightwing to make his exit. Ironically, the Blüdhaven PD had a strict view on vigilantism; it would not be tolerated. His partner Amy had no clue about his night time activities, and Dick intended to keep it that way. Cutting through an alleyway, Nightwing made his silent escape. The police would know he was the one that ended the drug deal, and they wouldn't like it, but they wouldn't search for him. That's the kind of relationship they had, despite vigilantism remaining illegal. They knew they needed his help even if they resented that fact.

Nightwing silently stood at the top of an apartment building now and surveyed the area. He was starting to get the feeling someone was watching him. Not following him but watching him. Years of training with Batman had taught him the difference. The presence wasn't threatening but required his attention regardless. Perhaps it was one of the officers. It wouldn't be the first time one of them tried to make a reputation as the one who spotted the infamous vigilante.

An hour passed with little to report. Nightwing patrolled on ground level, sticking mostly to alleyways and dark areas. He no longer felt as if he was being watched, which seemed to confirm his suspicion that it was a stray officer trying to follow him. With the feeling of paranoia gone, Nightwing was convinced the officer gave up. He stood in an alleyway with his back against the wall, taking a moment to rest.

At the ripe age of 13, Dick had started to resent how hard Bruce pushed him. In a matter of a year he had learned multiple forms of marital arts, stealth training, and heightened his senses to their full capacity. When he stopped resenting the amount of hard work it took, Dick began to appreciate the training he was given.

 _You're only human. You have one chance to react. As humans we have to accept our limitations and be ready at all times. Your first chance at defense may be your only chance. React, and react quick._

In a single instant, every minute of training put into Nightwing was put to the test as a figure from the darkness within the alley lashed out in attack. Nightwing jumped back, feeling every fiber of his being shift in slow motion away from the wave of energy reaching towards him.

Nightwing crouched in a defensive stance, eskrima sticks drawn. A figure stepped with a powerful stomp out of the shadows.

"Bane," Nightwing exhaled.

"You're far from home, niño," Bane cackled with a menacing grin.

There was something starkly different about Bane. His size had always been inhumanly large, but he appeared to be impossibly bigger. The skin around his arms and legs tore with the immense size of bulging tendons and hardened muscle. What kind of venom was he using? A red glow of pulsing light was radiating around Bane from the tubing winding around his body and returning at the base of his neck.

This was bad. Nightwing was starting to wonder why neither Wally nor Roy had given him an update on their chase on Bane. Now he could see why. They must have lost him on his way to Blüdhaven. It would hurt his pride, but the right thing to do would be to call for backup.

Bane charged, leaving Nightwing no time to initiate contact with anyone. For someone so large, Bane moved incredibly fast. It was go time. No room for fear.

Nightwing charged back, jumping up when he was within feet of Bane and coming back down with a strike of the eskrima stick. Despite using all his force, Nightwing felt the resistance against Bane as the eskrima stick bounced back and sent Nightwing in the opposite direction. It felt like he had tried to smack a sack of concrete.

Bane laughed at Nightwing's feeble attempts at the first strike, brought both his fists together, and struck down at Nightwing. Nightwing rolled to the side within an inch of the attack, then looked back at the creator sized hole left in the ground where he was moments ago. This was really bad.

He pressed two fingers to his ear piece. "Nightwing to Red Arrow, come in."

" _I…What did….Can you…I don't think…."_ Nightwing only got bits and piece of Roy's response. The connection was being scrambled. He really was on his own now. For the first time since going solo, Nightwing felt his fear drop down into the pit of his stomach.

Again, Bane charged at him, reaching out to grab him by the chest and slammed a knee against his ribs. Nightwing gasped, feeling the breath beaten out of his lungs. Before he could refill his lungs with the air he just lost, a second blow crashed into his ribs again, this time Bane's fist, and then he was thrown to the ground.

Burning pain entered his lungs as he desperately tried to breathe. The pain only increased ten-fold when he began to inhale and exhale. There were definitely some broken ribs now. His entire frame shook with each shallow breath he tried to regain.

"What do you want," Nightwing panted as he got up to his feet. He tried to distract Bane with his words long enough to pull out an explosive wingding.

Bane rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles into his other hand. "I'm not here to talk, that's for sure," he answered before preparing to attack again.

Nightwing hesitated until Bane got close then threw the explosive wingding at his attacker's chest. That would distract him for a moment. Nightwing needed to get out of this alleyway. Fighting in tight quarters was playing to Bane's advantage.

There was a high-pitched whine right before the wingding exploded, followed by a growl of anger from Bane and a cloud of grey smoke. This was his chance. Nightwing sprinted a few steps forward before he felt a grip on the back collar of his body armor pull him backwards, then slammed him down on the ground. The pain in his ribs shot through him, this time the pain felt piercing. He was going to puncture a lung if he wasn't careful.

Think, Dick, think! He urged his brain. He needed to cut off Bane's supply of venom. Then he had an idea.

"Is that the best you can do?" Nightwing called out. If he could get Bane out of the alleyway, he could work a plan. Bane didn't seem amused by his taunts and took a menacing step forward. That's when Nightwing ran for it.

Nightwing ran as fast as his body would allow him until he got to the end of the alleyway. It had rained earlier, now only if he could get Bane in the right place. Just a little further. Nightwing spun around and shot out both electrical wrist darts, sending a highly charged voltage through Bane. The water below Bane's feet amplified the charge.

With a small sigh of relief, Nightwing took a few steps back from Bane as the villain lit up with sparks of electricity.

" _Wing…come in…dammit what the hell. What's going on," Roy tried to contact Nightwing again._

"It's Bane, he's here in Blüdhaven. I think I have him under control, but I could still use the backup, how far are you?"

What Nightwing thought was the end of the fight was only the beginning. Bane stood up, electrical shocks still surging through his body, and swung a muscled fist at Nightwing.

The fist connected with his jaw and sent him reeling backward. Another fist flew forward, and another, repeatedly slamming against the side of his face. When Bane stopped, a trickle of blood crawled down Nightwing's face. He spat at the ground and wiped the blood from his face. Nightwing was done being Bane's punching bag.

When it came to fighting, Nightwing didn't fight angry. But there was something personal in this fight. It felt like Bane was mocking him, telling him he wasn't cut out to be running solo. With a yelling battle cry, Nightwing ran at Bane, armed with his brass knuckles now. Nightwing swung at Bane, hitting once, twice, three times; then alternating with kicks and jabs. Each hit only nudged Bane backward.

Even more so, each attack was starting to wear Nightwing down but didn't seem to have any effect on Bane. He pivoted into a fighting stance again and kicked towards Bane's head. But before the kick could connect with its target, Bane grabbed his leg. Bane held his leg with both hands and what followed was a sickening snap of bone. Nightwing screamed in agony as Bane broke his leg and shoved him down to the ground again.

Oh god. Bane was going to kill him. The jagged shard of broken bone poked through the skin and Nightwing's vision tilted as he realized there was a puddle of blood around his leg. His breathing was getting shallow and he couldn't move his leg. He couldn't fight back, he couldn't defend his life. No, stay conscious, he begged himself. The black edges around his vision were starting to close in. This isn't how his life was supposed to end. There were so many things he still had to do, so many things left to say. What was the last thing he said to Bruce? He couldn't even remember.

Bane was stepping closer now. At least he'd be with his parents soon. He had failed Bruce and all the training he had been given. It wasn't enough. The familiar lightheaded feeling was taking over and he knew he was about to pass out. He looked up and saw a black figure falling from the sky, it's projectile about to hit Bane. He must be hallucinating now.

But he wasn't. The figure dropped down with something sharp reflecting the moonlight and sliced down towards the tubing connecting the venom to Bane's head. Bane turned at the last moment, taking the blade deep into the flesh of his shoulder instead of the venom supply.

Without hesitation, the figure in black initiated an explosive round of jabs and kicks towards Bane with such speed it was hard to count how many strikes were hitting Bane. Bane grabbed the figure by the neck and threw him against the nearest brick wall. The brick crumbled around the figure but that didn't stop him. He sprang up and snapped a kick at Bane's feet, trying to swipe him off balance.

"I thought Nightwing worked solo," Bane commented as he jumped over the kick easily.

"He does," the figure responded. His voice was masked by a computerized voice filter. (think Red X from Teen Titans)

Both Bane and the new vigilante collided in combat, Bane swinging punches wildly. This vigilante was more agile and moved quickly to dodge each attack and then countered with a right hook to Bane's face. It was enough to push Bane back towards the alley.

The mysterious vigilante ran over to where Nightwing was. Nightwing was barely hanging on to consciousness.

"Where are you injured," he asked in the cold computerized voice. He could already see the broken leg and was tying a piece of cloth around the exposed and bleeding injury. Nightwing was going to bleed out if that wasn't taken care of soon.

Nightwing tried to stay coherent. "Who are you," he murmured. No answer from the vigilante.

An enraged grunt from Bane pulled the vigilante away from Nightwing's aid. He stood and got ready to defend against Bane.

Bane grabbed the metal pole of a stop sign, snapped it in half, and held the jarred metal tip like a javelin and drove the sharp tip at the vigilante. Try as he did, the vigilante wasn't fast enough to move out of the way. The serrated tip of metal pierced the torso of the vigilante, but he refused to cry out in pain. His hand reached down at the area of the injury and his fingers could feel the sticky warm blood seeping into the cloth of his uniform. On the other end of the alleyway, Nightwing passed out from his injuries.

"This has gone on long enough," the masked figure spoke, reaching for something in his utility belt. A small black cube was produced from the compartment and dropped to the ground. When it hit the ground, a high-pitched noise traveled through sound waves into the air and assaulted Bane's ears. The intensity of the sound increased until Bane dropped down on his knees and held his hands over his ears.

The vigilante ran up behind Bane, drew a knife, and slashed at the source of the venom supply. The tubes reacted like snakes, sprawling violently in the air with the release of pressure. With one swift and strong kick to the head, the vigilante knocked Bane out then returned to check on Nightwing.

He knelt down beside Nightwing and checked for a pulse. Still alive, but barely.

"Step away from him!" Red Arrow threatened with an arrow knocked back ready to shoot. Kid Flash arrived in a blur of yellow and red beside Red Arrow a moment later.

The figure stood and sized up the two heroes. "I didn't do this," his electronic voice spoke. Red Arrow's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He didn't trust a new hero in a mask, especially one that felt the need to go so far as to disguise his voice. Red Arrow didn't lower his bow.

"Nightwing!" Kid Flash ran over to him. "What happened!" he sputtered when he saw what kind of condition his friend was in.

"KF," Red Arrow spoke, keeping his eyes locked on the vigilante, "Get Nightwing to Watchtower med bay. His injuries look serious. I'll take care of Bane and him," he said, glaring at the figure in front of him.

Kid Flash didn't hesitate to contact Watchtower and have himself and Nightwing beamed up. Once they were gone, Red Arrow made sure Bane wasn't moving anytime soon, then turned to interrogate the mysterious newcomer.

"Start talking," Red Arrow demanded.

The stiff body language of the vigilante conveyed he wasn't fond of Red Arrow either. He hadn't moved and continued to face Red Arrow.

Red Arrow snarled with frustration but lowered his arrow to approach the other man. "What happened?" he seethed. His best friend was gravely injured, and he wanted answers. The man in all black didn't answer. This pushed Roy over the edge.

He stepped forward, used his open palmed hand to shove the man's shoulder. "I'm talking to you!" he shouted. "Egh!" he grunted in surprise. He looked down at his hand, a layer of sticky red. The guy's uniform must be soaked in blood. "What—" he began to ask but was interrupted when the figure began to stumble forward, down to his knees then flat on the ground. Red Arrow gave a small kick to the man's side. No response.

"Dammit," Red Arrow grumbled. He knew this person would need medical attention first before he was going to get any answers. "Watchtower," he activated his earpiece, "I need you to beam up me and my plus one." A bright blue light surrounded both of them and transported them to Watchtower. He'd contact Batman to take care of Bane. It was better that Batman handled him. Because right now, Red Arrow was too angry to control himself around Bane. Nightwing wouldn't want him to become a murderer.


	4. Chapter 3

**Watchtower**

 **March 3 2018 2:00pm**

* * *

Nightwing hadn't woken up yet. His body lie still in a medical bed with an oxygen mask on his face, his leg elevated in a cast, an IV in his arm, and a monitor tracking his vitals. He was sedated upon arrival to the med bay and given a blood transfusion. Next to his bedside stood Batman, who hadn't left his side since Nightwing was brought in. Bane was recaptured by the Justice League and brought back to Blackgate. So far, Bane refused to talk. It was still unclear how he had escaped or who hired him to make an assassination attempt on Nightwing's life.

Kid Flash, Red Arrow, and Superboy stood outside the medical room, waiting. Batman wasn't allowing anyone else to see Nightwing at this time, not until he was stable. As it turns out, Nightwing did in fact puncture a lung. Until he was able to breathe without the assistance of the oxygen mask, Batman requested that they give him time to heal.

Artemis arrived at Watchtower and quickly walked down the hallway towards the med bay. She felt calmer when she saw her friends and team mates standing outside the medical room.

"How is he doing?" Artemis asked when she got close. "I got here as soon as I could."

Kid Flash gave her a nod of acknowledgement. "Tibia was snapped, four broken ribs, right lung punctured, and he needed a blood transfusion. His O2 levels weren't great so they put him on oxygen. Pain meds are keeping him sedated for now."

Artemis pressed her lips together. Kid Flash could tell she wanted to say something but was holding back. He knew how Artemis felt about Nightwing going solo. She probably wanted to say that she knew this was a bad idea. She'd save being mad at him once he was in the clear.

"What's up with those two?" she asked in a hushed voice, glancing over towards the door of the other medical room. Martian Manhunter and Hawk Girl were guarding the door. Inside, Red Tornado was assessing and treating the masked vigilante.

"You didn't hear the full story, did you?" Superboy asked. Artemis shook her head no.

Red Arrow finally spoke up. "Bane was already down for the count by the time KF and I arrived on the scene. Nightwing was unconscious. He likely would have been killed by Bane if an unknown vigilante didn't fight Bane. It's assumed the vigilante fought Bane on his own once Nightwing was unable to fight."

Artemis' eyes widened. She knew how powerful Bane was. "Someone took down Bane alone? That's insane. What do we know about this vigilante?"

"Not much," Kid Flash answered.

Superboy crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't understand why they're guarding the vigilante's room. They're treating him like a captured criminal. He saved Nightwing. That's enough for us to give him the benefit of the doubt, isn't it?"

Superboy was fond of Nightwing. Back in their Young Justice days, Robin was a good friend. He didn't treat Superboy different like others did at first. It took some of the pressure off while adjusting to normal life, and for that Conner was grateful.

"He's a liability," Red Arrow spoke, a hostile tone seeping into his voice. "Think about it, there's a hero the Justice League didn't know about, with the power and fighting skills to take down Bane. Is that someone you want running around without knowing a thing about him? Not even a name. You know how the League is, they want control over everything. They don't like to be left out of the loop." Superboy mulled that over. Red Arrow was confident they'd get more answers from the vigilante once his injuries were treated.

"Is he human?" Artemis asked. He couldn't be, no ordinary human could fight Bane like that when he was pumped with venom. Maybe Batman, but he had the experience to back it up and wouldn't leave that fight without an injury or two.

Kid Flash shrugged. "Not sure yet."

The sound of heavy footsteps down the hall approached before the bright red mask of the Red Hood came into view. "Where is he," Jason demanded to know.

"Room four, but Batman's doesn't want anyone else going in righ—" Red Arrow's sentence was cut off as Jason pushed past them and went into the medical room anyway.

"How come he gets to go in there?" Kid Flash complained.

The next person to come down the hall was Superman. He gave them a brief smile before walking towards room four.

"Batman doesn't want—oh forget it," Kid Flash huffed.

Red Hood and Batman looked up when Superman entered the room. Batman scowled at Superman, letting him know that he didn't appreciate him coming in when he had requested the League give Nightwing space while he recovered.

"Batman," Superman approached cautiously, "There's something you need to see."

"Not now," Batman said, keeping his sentence short to convey he wished Superman would leave.

Superman's discomfort was made clear on his face. He knew Nightwing was like a son to Batman and he didn't want to drag him away from his son, but it was important. "I really think you need to see this."

"Go," Red Hood said. "You've been standing here watching him for hours. I've got it from here. Go see what he needs."

The other two could see Batman was debating what he wanted to do. He had responsibilities to the League, even if his son was injured.

"This better not take long," Batman stated before leaving the room with Superman.

Kid Flash perked up when he saw Batman and Superman exit the room. "Can we—"

"No," Batman said sternly as he passed by.

Kid Flash's shoulder's slumped in disappointment. He was worried about his best friend. He also felt partially responsible for Nightwing's injuries. Had he stopped Bane from getting to Blüdhaven, it would have been prevented.

The door to the other medical bay opened, Martian Manhunter and Hawk Girl stepped aside. All eyes were on Red Tornado. If he was human, he likely would have sighed at their gawking anticipation for answers.

"So?" Red Arrow asked.

"The vigilante is human," he answered the question that he knew most of the heroes were wondering. "An artificial clotting agent was used to stop the bleeding long enough for the blood loss to be replenished naturally. We are respecting the privacy of the vigilante, which did not allow us to test the blood type for a transfusion. Injuries are non-fatal, and she is expected to make a full recovery."

"You mean he," Kid Flash corrected.

"No, biometric scan concludes the vigilante is female."

"What!" Red Arrow said in shock. He pushed forward into the medical bay room.


	5. Author's note

**Quick author's note: I reread through the chapters I have so far to proofread any grammar/style mistakes I may have missed before.**

 **Thank you guest for letting me know two of the chapters got flipped. It should be fixed now**

 **Have a wonderful Friday everyone! I'll hopefully have the next chapter up Saturday.**


	6. Chapter 4

The door to the medical bay swung open and Red Arrow marched forward. The vigilante sat up when she heard the sound of someone entering. Her movements were slow and the mask was still on her face.

"Not you again," she said, the electronic voice coming through the mask was slightly slurred. Red Tornado had her pretty drugged up, mostly to keep her from running off but also to help with the pain. No one walked away from a fight with Bane without the consequence of injuries. "Whatdaya want now? Come to finish your interrogation, Arro' Boy?"

The rest of the team followed Red Arrow's lead and entered the medical bay. Nightwing needed time to rest, but that didn't mean they couldn't find out more about the vigilante in the meantime. Miss Martian had finally joined them.

"Damn straight," Red Arrow retorted. "We know more than you think. Why conceal your gender? What's with the suit and voice filter?"

"Androgynous suits are very in this season," she answered, giving him more sass. "And how dare you assume my gender."

The room was dead silent despite the fact that she was clearly making a joke.

"Although," she continued, "I'm surprised no one tried to take the mask off. I wish you would have," she looked dead straight at Red Arrow, "Because if you had tried, it would have sent a deadly voltage through your skull. No one but me can remove this mask or suit."

Everyone could feel the hostility in the room, especially between Red Arrow and the vigilante.

Miss Martian stepped forward in an attempt to alleviate the tension. "Ignore Red Arrow, he doesn't exactly get along with anyone," she said, giving Red Arrow an apologetic look but it was true. "Nightwing is our friend. We're concerned. We don't mean for this to be an interrogation, but can you understand why we want to know more? That's all," she said softly.

The room was silent again as the vigilante seemed to think over Miss Martian's words. Her hands reached up to the mask and it unlocked. Tresses of raven black hair spilled out of the helmet-like mask and she looked at them with crystal clear bright blue eyes. The kind of blue eyes that seemed to look right into you. Only a few people in the room had seen Nightwing without his mask on. Her eyes and hair color reminded Kid Flash of Nightwing. It was a bit eerie, they looked like they could be cousins or something. No one else seemed take much notice of her appearance.

"Where's Nightwing?" she asked, shifting from where she was siting to swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

Red Arrow came around and stood in front of her. "Don't even think about it," he warned. The vigilante stood up anyway, legs shaking with unsteady balance.

"Get out of my way, it's my job to protect him!" she objected.

Kid Flash raised an eyebrow. Now they were getting somewhere. "Your job to protect him? By whose orders?" The vigilante was silent. She reached an arm out against the wall to steady herself.

"Doesn't matter. He's not safe here and I don't trust you people to keep him safe," she said, taking slow steps forward. "What did he drug me with!" she demanded to know what Red Tornado injected into her veins. It didn't matter, she found the strength to step towards Red Arrow. He expected her to stop, but instead she nudged her shoulder at him and pushed past where he was standing.

Red Arrow reached out and grabbed her by the arm. That was a mistake.

The vigilante reacted with explosive anger, turning around and pushing Red Arrow to the ground followed by a round of wild punches towards his face. Red Arrow threw his crossed arms up to protect his face. Red Arrow could easily push her away and he knew her attack wouldn't last long with her injuries.

"That's enough," Miss Martian said delicately, stepping near the vigilante, and pulled her away from Red Arrow. "You're going to hurt yourself. Let's just take a step back. I'm Miss Martian, but you can call me M'gann. Is there a name we can call you by?"

The vigilante shook off Miss M's grip on her shoulders. But her expression softened when she faced Miss Martian. She was the only one treating her like a person right now. "Hmm," she seemed to consider that, "I guess you can call me Cas."

Superboy could see that Cas responded better when she didn't feel like she was being interrogated. M'gann had clearly caught on to that fact.

"Is Cas short for Cassandra?" Kid Flash asked.

"Sure," Cas dismissed. "Cas, Cassie, Cassandra, doesn't make a difference to me. Names don't mean much to me."

That struck a chord with Superboy. He was told that humans cared a lot about names. They were identifiers, and for most people, their names were picked by their parents with some significance. Perhaps that wasn't the case for Cas.

"Well," Miss Martian said, feeling like she had taken over the situation, "This is Red Arrow, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Artemis."

Cas nodded. "Look, that's great and all, but the only person I need to see is Nightwing. Either move out of my way willingly, or I will move you out of the way," she threatened, the anger coming back.

Artemis crossed her arms. "You know what, screw Batman. I'm going to see Nightwing." The other heroes exchanged looks with each other, shrugged, and followed Artemis.

* * *

Superman led Batman down the hall to the surveillance room and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of a monitor. They were the only ones in the room and the door was closed behind them.

"What is so important that you needed me to leave Nightwing's side?" Batman questioned.

Superman pulled up a street cam footage. "We cross referenced every surveillance camera in Blüdhaven to get a view of what happened. The way the masked person fights, it's worth seeing," he said and began playing the footage.

He saw the fight between Bane and Nightwing, not even flinching when Nightwing's leg was broken. Batman could see that Bane's venom was different. Anger boiled deep within him. Nightwing should have never been on a patrol alone, but then again, no one could have expected Bane would come after Nightwing once he left Gotham.

Batman watched as the figure dropped down from the sky and attacked Bane without fear. He evaluated the vigilante's fighting style and his stance stiffened. It didn't take long for Batman to notice the similarities between his own fighting style and the way he trained Dick to fight. Who trained the vigilante? Who was the mentor that knew that kind of fighting style? His jaw clenched as he watched the vigilante take down Bane. Someone had been training the vigilante and based on the level of expertise, the training had been going on for years. How did someone like that stay out of the League's radar?

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Superman asked.

"If you are thinking that we need to find out where this vigilante came from, yes," Batman spoke once the video footage ended.

The door to the room opened and Red Tornado entered. "The bio-metric report you requested," he said, handing over a piece of paper to Batman. His eyes scanned over the numbers and looked up at Red Tornado. "Female?" he asked.

"You too seem surprised by this fact," said Red Tornado.

"Who else have you told?" Batman asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Red Arrow, Kid Flash, Superboy, Artemis, Miss Martian," he listed. "I was unaware this was restricted information."

Without a word, Batman left the room and headed back to the medical bay.

* * *

When Nightwing finally opened his eyes, the med bay room was crowded with friends and team members. His body ached except for his leg; it felt numb. Residual shame washed over him, then heightened when he spotted Batman in the room. _You failed_.

He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked over at Jason. "About time you woke up," he half joked. Jason released his hand and allowed Nightwing to sit up. There was a soft grunt of pain, but at least the room wasn't spinning.

It shouldn't surprise him that he ended up in the med bay at watchtower, but there were a lot of gaps in his memory. He remembered fighting Bane, correction, getting his ass kicked by Bane. He remembered trying to call Roy and Wally for backup. They must have picked up his coordinates even if the com link was scrambled. And then there was the masked figure that came into the fight right before he passed out. That's when he noticed an unfamiliar face in the group of people. Although he had no clue who she was, he recognized the body armor suit. He had assumed the fighter was male. Maybe he wasn't seeing clearly that night. After all, he was in pain and bleeding profusely from a broken leg and cracked ribs.

"You should have called for backup," Jason scolded, acting like a big brother more than anything.

"I tried," wince, "My com connection to Red Arrow and Kid Flash wasn't great," Nightwing said back.

Jason shook his head. "By backup, I meant _me_."

Kid Flash looked concerned still. It wasn't enough that Nightwing had woken up. He was still recovering from a list of injuries. He'd need physical therapy before he could put full weight on his leg and it would be a week before he could even think about training again. Then there was Miss Martian, who kept giving him a look of pity that he hated. Red Arrow looked pissed as always but Nightwing was confused by why that anger seemed directed at the female. He kept giving her dirty looks as if he didn't want her in the room. What did he miss? Would some please fill him in for god's sake.

"The situation was handled," Cas spoke up. All eyes turned to her.

" _Handled_?" Red Hood snarled. "You call that handled!" He motioned towards Nightwing.

"We tried to get there, really, we did. When the com link went down, it took us time to track down the coordinates," Kid Flash jumped into the conversation, the defeated tone of his voice conveyed guilt.

"Of course we did!"

"Any of us would have come if we knew Nightwing was in danger."

"But you didn't know!"

"Oh, so now we're supposed to keep track of everyone in Blüdhaven?"

"He'd be fucking dead if I hadn't stepped in!"

"Who the hell is she anyway!?"

The room was filled with voices jumping at each other and making Nightwing's head spin. He still had no clue what had happened in between the time since he passed out and now. How long had he been out? He could tell his leg was broken, but how bad? What was his recovery time? What if his acrobatics would never be the same? His breathing picked up, causing pain in his ribs and chest. The spike in his vitals showed on the monitor that he was still hooked up to.

"Stop!" Batman growled over the noise. Everyone went silent. " _This_ is _explicitly_ why I asked everyone to stay out of this room."

Nightwing finally had the chance to talk. "Where is Bane?" That was the most important question to him. Did he get away? Would he be back? How many other lives were in danger?

"Bane has been captured and contained at Blackgate once again," Batman answered.

Nightwing locked eyes with Cas. "You were the one to stop him?" he asked.

"Yes," Cas answered simply. "You can call me Cas. It is my job to make sure you stay alive."

Confusion crossed Nightwing's face. "What do you mean by that? Who made it your job?" he asked, looking around the room. He knew his superhero family didn't feel comfortable with him going solo, but did they really send a babysitter to tag along behind him?

"Don't look at us," Red Arrow stated, "We have no clue who she is. Who made it your job to play bodyguard?" he echoed Nightwing's questions.

The was a low growl deep in Cas' throat. "I don't answer to you," she spat at Red Arrow. But she was willing to talk directly to Nightwing. "I can't disclose that information. All that matters is that you are kept alive, no matter what it takes."

Cas' expression was rigid but Nightwing recognized something in her eyes; fear. From the hostility Nightwing could feel in the room, he could only imagine what interrogation Cas had fended off thus far.

"Are you okay?" Nightwing asked.

The tough expression on Cas' face slipped then regained its composure. "I've dealt worse injuries before. I'll survive. I should be asking you if you're okay."

"Did my question surprise you?" Nightwing asked with a quirked eyebrow. His best guess at her age would be around 16, maybe younger. The fact that she was in a room full of heroes didn't seem to faze her.

Cas shrugged halfheartedly. "No one has expressed concern for my well-being before."

"Are you a hero?" Nightwing asked with curiosity now. Someone clearly trained her to fight, yet it was concerning that whoever trained her didn't care for her well-being.

Cas grinned for the first time. "Yeah, something like that." Nightwing nodded.

"Alright then," Nightwing said, oddly chipper for someone who was recently battered and broken by a supped-up Bane. "Guys, I'm okay, really. I'm sorry I worried you. Everything is fine. Give me a day of rest and I'll be back on my feet, you'll see."

This was Nightwing's polite way of telling them he was starting to feel claustrophobic in the room full of people with their eyes on him. It was bad enough having Batman watch his every movement, he didn't need an entire audience.

His friends took the hint; they'd check in on him later. Everyone but Batman, Red Hood, and Cas remained. Jason looked over at Cas when she was still in the room. "You can go too."

She inhaled and exhaled sharply. "I'm staying," she said defiantly. They locked eyes and Nightwing was afraid this was going to start something.

"It's fine, she can stay," Nightwing said. Nightwing was grateful for Cas' help. Who knows what would have happened if she hadn't showed up. He didn't want to think of that. As far as he was concerned, if she felt the need to stick around, it was alright with him.

Cas took a seat in the chair in the corner and let Nightwing talk with Batman and Red Hood. What she witnessed was a very awkward reunion. Batman requested that Nightwing not return to Blüdhaven or work alone until they figured out why Bane had come after him. Oddly enough, Nightwing agreed to his request.

Night rolled around and both Batman and Red Hood had a city to tend to. Cas could tell they didn't necessarily want to leave.

"Go," Nightwing gently urged. "I can't exactly run off anywhere with a broken leg, I have a medical team on standby, and a watchtower full of heroes. I'm probably going to fall asleep soon anyway. But if you really want to watch me sleep like a bunch of creeps..." Nightwing began to joke.

"Oh, shut it," Red Hood chastised. But Nightwing was right. They were needed else where and Nightwing was stable.

Batman didn't want to leave but there was important work to be done. He wanted to know why Bane had come after Nightwing and he wouldn't get his answers by sitting in the med bay. "You know how to reach us," Batman said with a curt nod.

"Of course," Nightwing told them before they left. Now it was just him and Cas. "I hope you don't mind, but I actually do want to sleep. I wasn't just saying that to get them out of the room."

Cas understood and got up from the chair. She was more obedient and polite when she was given requests from Nightwing. "I hope you don't mind, but I'll still be standing outside the med bay. I'll give you privacy to sleep but I'm not going far."

Nightwing gave an uncomfortable chuckle. Intensity rolled off her as if she didn't know how to be casual. It was like being in a room with a soldier who didn't know when to be at rest. "I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm in the clear. I couldn't be safer than at Watchtower," he casually tried to reassure her.

Cas was at the door now but stopped within the door frame. "Lex Luthor wants you dead. That's something you should take more seriously, Dick." She closed the door behind her and left Nightwing in stunned silence.


	7. Chapter 5

**Happy Harbor**

 **March 10, 2018 7:23 am**

* * *

A week had gone by. Nightwing was stable enough to move from the Watchtower med bay to Mount Justice. Since finding out Cas knew Lex Luthor was behind Bane's attack, and that she knew Nightwing's identity, Batman had been keeping a close eye on her. She didn't talk much during the week that she spent at Mount Justice and mostly stayed by Nightwing's side. Her injuries were starting to heal and the only time she left Nightwing was when they allowed her time in the training room.

Red Arrow had been spending more time around Young Justice. He even agreed to start patrolling with them. Green Arrow was hoping Nightwing's incident put some sense into Roy's head. Heroes were better off working with a team. Red Arrow could have ended up in just as bad of a situation as Nightwing had. It didn't mean Red Arrow stopped feeling bitterly resentful of working with a team, but he did so none the less. The target wasn't off Nightwing's back just yet, and he wanted to stick near his friend.

At the moment, Nightwing was sitting comfortably on the green couch in the living room area, his leg propped up with a pillow and Cas sitting on the other couch across from him. The other inhabitants at Mount Justice were still sleeping. Nightwing had the news on, but it was mostly background noise. He took in a small breath before attempting to talk to Cas yet again.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her, starting the conversation casually.

"Just fine, what about yourself?" she asked back. After a week, Cas had lightened up the smallest bit. Even that felt like a small accomplishment to Nightwing.

"If I'm being completely honest, this cast on my leg is driving me crazy," Nightwing answered with a crooked grin. "And I'd rather trade in these crutches for some wheels. A wheelchair would be much faster."

She laughed a short laugh. "Neither of those are very practical for a hero. Isn't there someone around here who could heal it now and speed up the process? All those heroes at Watchtower, someone must have healing powers."

Nightwing leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. "I can't say I didn't think about that. But the League generally frowns upon healing injuries with powers unless it's life threatening. We try not to mess with that kind of stuff. Why risk something going wrong when you can use modern medicine?"

Cas turned in her seat to face him. "Do you always follow orders?"

She asked a lot of questions and Nightwing usually answered. At least it got her to talk when she was asking questions. "Usually, as much as I can. I don't always see things as black and white. Sometimes you have to break the rules. I'm not saying I like it. But there has been a time or two I've strayed from Batman's orders for the sake of a mission. Do you always follow orders?" he asked back. Nightwing knew there was someone who trained Cas and sent her to look over him. What kind of orders were she given?

"Always," Cas said, a new frown appearing on her face. "I don't always like it either," she added quietly. "But bad things happen when I don't follow orders."

"Cas, you know things," Nightwing said apprehensively, "And it would really help us, help me, if you'd tell us what you know." For some reason her priority was keeping him safe. Maybe if he played off of that, he could get some answers. "How do you know my identity? Why does Lex Luthor want me dead?"

She shook her head. "It's not that simple. I _do_ want to tell you what I know. But that means picking a side. And if I betray his side…I just can't."

Nightwing came closer. "We would protect you," he promised. "Who is the person that you're taking the side of?"

Cas kept clenching and unclenching her hands. "I'm not the one who needs protecting. For your own sake, it's better if we keep things on a need to know basis."

Nightwing contemplated that. "Is it really fair that you're the one who decides what I need to know?" Cas knew that wasn't fair. She'd be furious if someone withheld information from her. "Please," Nightwing asked softly, "I promise we can protect you from whoever you're afraid of."

"Well," Cas hesitated.

Superboy came into the living room, interrupting anything she was considering saying. "Batman wants everyone for a training session. Both of you."

Nightwing mentally cursed Conner's bad timing but stood up and pointed to the walking cast on his leg. "He does know I can't exactly fight with this things on, right?"

"He's your mentor," Conner shrugged. Cas and Nightwing followed him to the front of the cave where the rest of the team was standing by the holographic sparring mat.

Nightwing noted that Batman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Red Hood were all there as well. It was quite an audience for a routine training session.

"Cas," Batman said, stepping forward from the huddle of adult heroes, "You'll be joining us in this session." It wasn't a question nor a request. Batman wasn't concerned about the possible danger Cas presented by having her stay at the mountain or joining their training sessions. There was a chain of power. Cas wouldn't do anything Nightwing didn't approve of and Nightwing's loyalty was to Batman.

Black Canary stepped out to the middle of the electronic sparring mat. "Would anyone else like to go first?" she asked.

"Yeah," Red Arrow curtly stated and stepped forward. He grabbed the strap of his quiver, brought it over his head, and set it down on the ground. Everyone knew he distrusted Cas and was dying for a non-consequential opportunity to take a swing at Cas. They all knew his agenda for volunteering to go first against Cas. Yet no one objected.

Before Cas could walk to the mat, Batman turned to her and said, "We have rules. First, hand to hand combat only. No weapons," he said and waited, a sign that he knew she was armed and would wait for her to discard all weapons before continuing to list the rules.

Cas started with the obvious. She had three knives of varying sizes equipped on the belt around her waist. The entire belt was removed and set on the ground. Then a small cylinder that expanded into a staff when she took it out. A handful of shuriken. She bent down and removed a handful of concealed throwing knives. The pile on the ground was growing into a small hill. On the forearms of her armor she had storage compartments similar to KF's suit, and removed small spheres that Batman recognized as smoke shields. Three more similar spheres but she set these down more carefully; explosives Batman assumed. Lastly a condensed grappling hook.

"Is that all?" Kid Flash said sarcastically.

"Oh, almost forgot," Cas said, reaching down in her steel-toed combat boots and produced a small knife.

Superboy didn't understand that last one. "Why a knife in your boot?" That seemed like an odd place to carry a weapon. He didn't think it would be very comfortable either. He kept his uniform as simple as possible with his House of El insignia t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Then again, he was a weapon and didn't need to carry any.

It was Nightwing that answered, "In case you're ever bound with your hands and feet behind your back. You can usually reach your hand to your boot and grab the knife to cut the binding." He knew because it was something he did too.

Everyone turned to look at Nightwing. "Yeah, he's right," Cas said. Now that she was free of all weapons, she went to the middle of the mat where Red Arrow was waiting.

"The other rules," Batman reminded, "No lethal blows," he emphasized despite the fact that he shouldn't have to tell anyone that. "The goal of a fight is to subdue an opponent as quickly as possible with the least number of attacks. If you can accomplish this without injuring your opponent, do so."

Cas knew multiple ways to subdue but not injury an opponent. There were headlocks, trapping techniques, and blows to pressure points that would render an opponent unable to fight back. Those weren't nearly as much fun as a good fight though. Red Arrow was really asking for it by volunteering to fight her.

"Got it," Cas answered and got into a fighting stance. "Let's see what Speedy, oops, I mean Red Arrow, can do," she smirked.

"Oh, that does it," Red Arrow snarled in aggravation before lunging forward at Cas.

Red Hood shook his head, leaned in towards Black Canary and whispered, "He's playing right into her tactics." Black Canary nodded in agreement. It was shocking how easily Cas had already managed to get in Red Arrow's head.

Red Arrow balled his fist and swung for Cas' face. She got ready and kicked Red Arrow's arm away and returned the attack, sending a fake jab towards the left side of his face then jabbing hard at the space between his ribs. Red Arrow doubled over from the attack and the rest of the team flinched in second-hand pain. Batman had no doubt that would have been a knife in between Red Arrow's rib if Cas was allowed to use weapons.

It only took Red Arrow a moment to catch his breath, but he stayed doubled over to fool Cas then swung his leg out trying to knock her legs out from under her. Unfortunately for Red Arrow, Cas was quick and saw the move from a mile away. It left Red Arrow open for another attack in which she sent a snapping front kick to his jaw. The flat surface of Cas' foot connected with his jaw and snapped his head back from the sheer force of the kick and he reeled backwards.

"Ouch," Kid Flash grimaced. That one looked like it hurt. Cas wasn't going easy on Red Arrow.

Black Canary looked like she wanted to intervene, but Batman put an arm out to stop her. "Not yet," he commanded.

Red Arrow was determined not to allow Cas the satisfaction of beating him in this fight. He jumped forward, grabbing her in a headlock tighter than necessary. Cas struggled against the lock, her nails biting into his arm she clawed at in an attempt to get him to release her.

Batman was watching them fight, his eyes evaluating every move she made. It didn't surprise him when Cas leaned forward and flipped Red Arrow over her head and made him release her.

Cas was getting annoyed now. This was her going easy on him, but this fight was a waste of her time. She knew Red Arrow was no match for her training. Cas made the advance at Red Arrow this time, bolting at him full force and sending a volley of jabs quicker than he could react. Upper shoulder, solar plexus, neck, right rib, bicep, third left rib. Even Black Canary recognized the fighting style of wing tsun. It was the first form of martial arts Batman had taught Robin.

Before Red Arrow could recover from the attack, Cas spun around with a back-roundhouse kick to his head. Red Arrow went down, knocked out.

The team sucked in a breath of shock. Red Arrow went down so easily, and he wasn't a novice fighter.

"Hey!" Black Canary shouted as she ran out to the middle of the mat to Red Arrow. She shook his shoulder until he came to and opened his eyes. "That wasn't necessary!" she reprimanded Cas sternly.

A low rumble of anger vibrated in Red Hood's throat. He didn't like the kind of aggression he was seeing from Cas. He couldn't tell who was worse, Cas or Damian. At least Damian was under control now that he started living with Bruce.

Cas shrugged without remorse. "The rules were to subdue the opponent as quick as possible. Does this not fit the criteria?"

"You could have seriously hurt him!" Artemis shouted from where she stood. They generally avoided blows to the head when sparring. It could easily go wrong. Just as Black Canary had said, it was unnecessary.

Cas looked to Nightwing to see if he disapproved. Nightwing felt like he was on the spot. "If you feel like you have something to prove, you don't. Just take it down a notch, alright?"

Did she feel like she had something to prove? Maybe. Or maybe she just really wanted to give Red Arrow what he had coming to him. She nodded to Nightwing in understanding.

Black Canary was asking Red Arrow questions to make sure he didn't have a concussion and Batman walked to the center of the mat while Red Arrow walked off. "You'll spare me now," Batman told Cas.

"Batman, I don't know if that's a good idea," Nightwing interjected. He wasn't sure if Batman wanted to spare her to see the full extent of her fighting ability, or as punishment for her aggression towards Red Arrow. Probably both.

"No, it's a great idea," Red Arrow disagreed. "Her ego needs to be taken down a few levels."

Cas didn't look as confident when Batman came to spare. She knew a lot about him. His secret identity, the millions of dollars' worth of technology and information at his disposal, his fighting style, everything. She knew enough not to underestimate him.

Batman got into a fighting stance at the same time Cas did. They began to circle each other and the team watched attentively to see who would make the first move.

She was going to look like she was scared of Batman if she didn't make a move soon. It took a moment before Cas charged at Batman for the first attack, kicking towards his torso. The attack was blocked, and the next, blocked again. For each attack that Cas made, Batman countered it. But when he attacked back, Cas blocked too. It looked more like they were dancing than fighting. For every move the other made, the opponent predicted the attack and blocked it.

Batman scrutinized her as they fought. She couldn't fight him the way that she fought Red Arrow because she knew he could see her attacks coming. Batman was really starting to wonder if she was completely human and not a mind reader. It was like she knew his fighting style. Or rather…she knew Henri Ducard's fighting style with a mix of Ra's and Deathstroke's. They continued fighting, Cas getting aggravated that Batman was reflecting her attacks but not striking back.

He could see how easily her temper flared. Of course, he had dealt with angry and difficult people before, Damian being one of them. There was usually a source of the anger and that anger could be defused once the source was resolved. Batman had to wonder what it was that had made Cas so angry.

Now he would use her anger and frustration to his advantage. He stopped blocking and attacked, a hammer kick down on her shoulder and then forced her to the ground. A syringe slipped from his hand and he attempted to get a blood sample. Cas squirmed from the hold and snatched at Batman's wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," Cas growled, trying to pull the syringe from his hand. He didn't expect her to see it so quick. Cas got up to her feet and glared at him. "I know what you're doing. You want a DNA sample so you can figure out who I am. Give that to me," she said, snatching the syringe from him and pointing it at her forearm. "I'll give a DNA sample," Cas stated as the blood pooled into the glass syringe. Once a sufficient amount was there, she removed the needle. "But not to you."

Everyone in the room was watching her in confusion. They didn't expect her to give a DNA sample like that. For days they wanted to know who she was and Red Tornado wouldn't allow them to because her privacy was being respected. Cas walked the syringe over to Nightwing and handed it to him. "Here, all yours," she handed it over and turned to leave.

"Wait," Batman stopped her. "A person's fighting style is like a finger print. Even those trained under the same person adopt a unique version of their fighting. Despite how many different fighters train a hero, one form is usually dominant. After watching you fight, I've concluded you were trained by Deathstroke."

"What!?" Kid Flash sputtered. Artemis slammed an elbow in his stomach.

Artemis crossed her arms. "I've fought Deathstroke enough times. Let me spare Cas and I'll tell you if that's the case."

"No," Batman rejected the idea. "I'm confident in my deduction. You have a lot of questions to answer," Batman eyed Cas.

Nightwing could feel the tension that had overtaken the training area. He grabbed the crutches and hobbled over to Batman and Cas. "Hold on, let's not jump to any conclusions. That doesn't even make any sense. Why would an apprentice of Deathstroke save me from Bane?"

"How long have you been training under Deathstroke?" Batman interrogated. Cas didn't answer. "What's your agenda? Did he send you as a double agent? When were you planning on double crossing Nightwing?" Still no answer from Cas. But he could see the anger digging a frown into her expression.

Her anger boiled until she couldn't hold it in any more. "You want to know who the bad guy is here? This is your fault! Who the hell lets a thirteen-year-old run around Cadmus? Why didn't you stop it! Why didn't you come sooner, god damn it! This all could have been prevented! You're spot on, Deathstroke trained me. Do you know what it's like to have your spirit crushed and expected to have it pieced back together again the next day? Years of grueling training day after day, 365 days a year. Holidays didn't mean shit to him! Injuries were no reason not to train. Five years' worth of scars like a road map of his abuse! Ask away, what do you want to know? Want to know how I was treated like a weapon instead of a person?"

Nightwing was stunned as was everyone but Batman. Batman was the only one who hadn't reacted.

"Start from the beginning."

Cas was trembling with anger. It was unsettling for Superboy to watch. He remembered feeling that exact kind of rage and anger before Black Canary taught him how to manage it. Cas nodded like she was about to start talking. Why not. Nightwing had promised it was okay.

Nightwing handed the syringe to Red Tornado. "Do a DNA test," he said discretely and let Red Tornado leave the room.

A moment before Cas opened her mouth to talk, a spark of energy jumped from her suit before the entire suite was encased in sparking energy that immobilized Cas with electrical shocks and made her shout in pain before falling down to her knees. The team rushed forward but they couldn't touch her without getting shocked as well.

"Miss M, can you make it stop?" Kid Flash asked.

"I can try, but you heard what she said before. Anyone who tried to touch the suit would get a deadly shock," she said but raised her arms and tried to use her powers. Almost immediately she could feel a shock wave of energy that would reach her too if she continued.

Cas seized on the ground until her head lifelessly drooped to the side and then the shocks stopped. Batman crouched down next to her and tried to find a pulse. "No pulse, the shocks stopped her heart. Someone grab the AED," he ordered.

Black Canary ran over and grabbed it, setting the box-shaped machine on the ground while quickly opening it and getting the pads out.

"Charging," the machine spoke. "Charge ready. Stand clear," it directed. A shock made Cas' body jolt but her heart rate didn't return. "Charging. Stand clear," the machine tried again. Still nothing. "Charging. Stand clear." Cas jolted again, a gasp for air and a beep on the monitor signaled her heart rate was back.

"Deathstroke didn't want her giving more information," Batman concluded. "But to go so far as nearly killing his apprentice..." he shook his head.

Red Tornado returned after running the DNA test. He pulled Batman aside and handed him the report. Batman took it and glanced it over. "Red Tornado, Miss Martian, see what you can do about stopping the shocks of the suit she's wearing. The next time it happens, we may not get her heart started again." Red Tornado and Miss Martian left, carrying an unconscious Cas to the med bay.

"And the DNA test?" Red Hood questioned. They were all wondering.

Batman was still looking over the piece of paper he was handed, his eyes scanning the page multiple times to make sure he was reading it right. "Nightwing, we need to talk. Privately."

"I'm not sure now is an appropriate time to—"

"Now," Batman growled.


	8. Chapter 6

**Happy New Year! I know it's been super duper tremendously long since I've updated. So sorry! I'm hopefully back now with regular updates. If you haven't seen, YJ is coming back January 4th. I'm excited as hell. Anywho, here's a new chapter, I'll try to get more up soon**

* * *

M'gann brought Cas to one of the med bay rooms and Red Tornado remained outside the door to give them privacy. Although, as an android it was hard for him to understand the insistent human need for privacy. Cas was still unconscious and M'gann stood near her bedside conflicted with a moral dilemma. The easiest way to disarm the suit would be to delve into Cas' mind but she was well aware of the fact that this was a severe breach of privacy. Who was entitled to privacy and were there exceptions to when privacy was to be omitted?

Batman was confident in his deduction that Cas was Deathstroke's apprentice, which made her a danger to the team. Did this void her right to the concealment of her mind? M'gann certainly thought so, but she thought about how Conner would react. He wouldn't approve of it, but it didn't matter anymore. She'd never get back what they once had. With a deep sigh and her decision made, M'gann's eyes illuminated as she entered Cas' mind.

Cas had said that she was the only one who could remove the suit, which led to M'gann forming a theory; there was a mental link with the material Cas' suit was made out of. This could be similar to the material of her own suit; her suit responded to mental commands when she changed her physical form. M'gann would need to bypass the mental link in Cas' suit, thus her attempt at psychic over-take.

There was a strong resistance. Even though Cas was unconscious, M'gann could feel the mental barriers refusing to budge. M'gann's eyes glowed a luminous shade of emerald green and with a fair amount of persistence, she entered Cas' mind. She tried to navigate Cas' mind, searching for motor function and nerve control. Instead she ended up in the middle of one of Cas' memories.

 _Deathstroke stood before her, his height towering over her small frame. He waited until he had Cas' full attention. "I am going to tell you about the Court of Owls."_

" _But I thought they were only-"_

" _Do not interrupt," Deathstroke chided, "This information is important." He began to pace back and forth a short length. "Beware the Court of Owls, that watches all the time. Ruling Gotham from shadowed perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed. Speak not a whisper of them, or they'll send you the talon for your head."_

" _I don't understand, how is an old nursery rhyme important information?"_

" _This is one myth you shouldn't disregard so hastily," Deathstroke corrected. "The Court of Owls are real, threateningly so. I've uncovered an inconvenient truth about Dick Grayson's heritage. William Cobb, Dick's great grandfather, was a Talon; an assassin for the Court of Owls. Whether Grayson is aware or not, he has been primed to join the Court of Owls. Now that he is an adult, it will not be long before they search him out. I will not allow the Court of Owls to have him. I've waited far too long to have my perfect apprentice. Your top priority is to assure his freedom and safety."_

 _There was a long pause of silence._

" _What else do I need to know?"_

 _Deathstroke stopped his pacing, facing Cas once again. "The Court of Owls are no ordinary group of assassins. They possess inhuman strength, agility, and skill."_

" _What did you mean when you said Dick Grayson has been primed to join them?"_

" _The Court of Owls have discovered a way to cheat death. While alive, members of the Court of Owls absorb a significant amount of electrum—a highly conductive alloy of silver and copper. It is capable of reanimating dead tissue. Are you following what I am saying?"_

" _I believe so," Cas answered hesitantly._

 _That answer didn't satisfy Deathstroke. "I need a better answer than that," he said through gritted teeth. "You do not seem to comprehend the amount of investment the Court of Owls has put into Dick Grayson. Do I need to explain to you why I can only deduct that they will not stop trying to get close to him until he is a Talon? They will find a way to extort, blackmail, or torture him into becoming a Talon. Without protection, they will find a way to make him a Talon. Do you understand why that is problematic?"_

" _I understand," Cas said solemnly._

" _When the time is right, you will begin overseeing Nightwing's protection. You will report every detail to me. Nothing should be overseen as insignificant. I will take no chances. Now leave my sight."_

The memory faltered M'gann's grip on Cas' mind. She certainly wasn't supposed to see that memory and Nightwing needed to know right away. But first she had to finish what she entered Cas' mind to do. Usually M'gann would be interested in the other memories in Cas' head, but she was afraid to learn things she didn't want to know. With a newfound determination, M'gann found the motor function and link between Cas' mind and the suit, then severed the link.

* * *

Nightwing, who had the sneaking suspicion he was about to be lectured by his mentor, was led to an empty lab by Batman. For a brief stretch of time, Batman didn't speak a word. The sound of the second hand on the clock ticking in a slow circle could be heard echoing against every metal surface in the room. Waiting for Batman to speak was more nerve wracking than him yelling; at least, that's what Nightwing predicted.

"On July 5th, 2013; you, Aqualad, and Kid Flash infiltrated Cadmus and discovered Project Kr," Batman stated.

"Yes."

It was hard for Nightwing to forget the day they met Superboy. Or the fact that there was more going on in Cadmus than any hero had suspected. Not to mention a rebellious start to Young Justice.

"And on July 5th, 2013, you were contained by the head scientist and put into pods."

"All three of us were, yes," Nightwing clarified. Where was he going with this?

Batman shifted his weight from one leg to another, but his stance remained hardened with anger. "DNA samples were collected before you were released."

"Yes, but—"

"DNA samples intended for cloning. As well as access to your memories."

Nightwing crossed his arms over his chest. "I destroyed the DNA samples collected. Three explosive disks initiated the explosion that destroyed the lab we were held captive in."

The slits of Batman's mask near the eyes narrowed. "How certain are you that the DNA samples were destroyed?"

"I told you," Nightwing repeated, "I destroyed them."

"How certain!" Batman demanded, slamming a fist down on the metal table separating them.

Nightwing's controlled expression on his face faulted. "I-I don't know, 90%? They were destroyed, I know they were." He never went back to check. There was no time. They were destroyed though, right? The DNA couldn't have survived that explosion. But Batman's questions and the recently acquired DNA results from Cas were giving Nightwing a bad feeling.

"When Cas' DNA was tested, similarities were found with yours. A side by side comparison was tested through the system. There was a 95% match," Batman stated. "22 of the 23 chromosomes matched. You can take a guess which didn't."

Realization washed over Nightwing's face like a sandcastle being overcome by a wave of ocean water. "Cas would be an exact clone if she had a Y chromosome." His pulse accelerated and he became hyper-aware of each quickened breath that flowed through his lungs. He had a clone. A clone that had been trained by Deathstroke. Dick felt violated in so many different ways.

"She was clearly trained to fight like you," Batman spoke, reminding Nightwing that he wasn't in the room alone with his thoughts, "If it weren't for the difference of one chromosome, we would have watched a sparring match between an exact replica of yourself fighting Red Arrow earlier today. I can only assume that when you attempted to destroy the DNA, it was partially damaged and the only way for the scientists to preserve the sample was to alter the DNA to a X chromosome instead of Y."

Nightwing silently nodded and waited for the yelling to begin. When the room stayed silent, he looked up at Batman. His mentor looked deep in thought and held a solemn expression. "What do I do now?" Nightwing's question came out in a husky whisper.

Batman's anger had simmered into an unfitting emotion of guilt. Cas' words reverberated through his head. _This is your fault! Who the hell lets a thirteen-year-old run around Cadmus? Why didn't you stop it! Why didn't you come sooner god damn it! This all could have been prevented!_ Robin should have never been at Cadmus that night. Had he been a better mentor to Robin…a better father, he would have prevented it. Batman feared if he showed his anger and disappointment in Nightwing, he would push his son away further. It felt like he was just starting to get his son back. How could he possibly let that go?

Finally, Batman answered, "She'll join Young Justice. Until we can be assured her alliance is with the League and not Cadmus or Deathstroke, we need to keep a close eye on her."

"Join Young Justice?" Nightwing probed. "Wait, is that why Superboy joined Young Justice? To keep an eye on him? Is that what you advised Superman to do! Give him a spot on the team to keep him in his place?" his questions intensified.

A grimace was the only response Nightwing got. What other option was there? Cas was a liability now.

Nightwing clenched his fist at his side. Any progress he had made to amend his relationship with Bruce had been decimated; that's how it felt to Dick. He wanted to look up at Bruce's expression to gauge what his mentor was really feeling, but he couldn't bring himself to look. "I'm sorry I failed you," Nightwing said in a low voice.

"We both failed," Batman said before leaving the room without another sound.

Nightwing was left alone with his thoughts, which was the last thing he wanted. He needed some kind of movement or distraction to keep him away from thinking too much. Right before his hand reached for the door, it opened and revealed M'gann with Cas.

Cas was no longer wearing the kevlar suit she came to the mountain in, but instead a plain black stealth suit similar to one Robin had worn when sent on stealth missions for Young Justice. Her face looked two shades lighter than pale, prompting a concerned look from Nightwing. Cas stayed near the doorway when M'gann approached Nightwing.

M'gann leaned close and whispered, "Her heart stopped a few times more before we were able to get the suit off. Deathstroke really doesn't want her to talk. I believe I know why now…"

Nightwing looked up to Cas and his look of sympathy (which was interpreted by Cas as pity) prompted her to step forward.

"Anything you have to say to him, you can say in front of me. I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later anyway," Cas crossed her arms to display her irritation.

M'gann looked to Nightwing for a sign of approval. He shrugged, not sure what it was M'gann needed to tell him. Although, he was fairly certain Cas was right and they didn't need to hide information from her anymore. If he went with the plan Batman advised, Cas would be sticking around for a while.

"Well," M'gann started hesitantly, "When I was using my psychic abilities to sever the mental link between Cas' mind and the suit, I got pulled into one of her memories."

"You were in my head!" Cas roared with rage.

Nightwing moved quickly, feeling the need to put himself in the space between M'gann and Cas. "Cas, she was only trying to help. I'm sure she wasn't trying to look into your memories, right?"

M'gann was taken aback but nodded slowly. "Yes, I would have preferred not to see the memories with Deathstroke. Or any, really. But Cas hasn't told you why she's been sent to protect you and it's wrong to keep this information from you," she turned to Nightwing. "Did you know your great grandfather was as assassin for the Court of Owls? And that because you have a family history of Talons, they want you to join them? Deathstroke believes there's still a chance you will be his apprentice and he can't have that if you become a Talon."

Cas was gritting her teeth so hard, Nightwing thought she was going to pop her jaw. There was silence and he knew M'gann was waiting for a reaction. What reaction would she be expecting? Surprise? Horror, disgust, fear?

Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck. "I know about the Court of Owls and my family history with the Talons. Batman started looking into the Court of Owls a few years back when a socialite in Gotham was threatened and almost assassinated. We all thought the Court of Owls was just a myth, a story the natives of Gotham liked to tell. But they're real and I know I need to keep my guard up if they ever come knocking. As for Deathstroke," he sighed. What was with Deathstroke's obsession with him becoming an apprentice? Dick's best guess was that it wasn't as much about him as it was with beating Batman. What better way to destroy an enemy than to take his sidekick, corrupt him, and rub it in Batman's face? "It's unfathomable that Deathstroke would go so far as to create a clone to prevent the Court of Owls from making me a Talon, but it's not worth losing sleep trying to understand the way an assassin like Deathstroke thinks."

"I wasn't withholding information from him," Cas told M'gann. "I've been keeping sensitive information on a need to know basis. The Court of Owls haven't made any moves yet so it was better not to worry him. Don't ever go in my head again."

"Okay," M'gann finalized the discussion. "I should get back to Watchtower," she dismissed herself. Not only had M'gann seen Cas' memories, but she felt her emotions too. There was an overwhelming feeling of sadness that was so devastatingly lonely she questioned if any amount of kindness could fix it. She passed Kid Flash who side stepped around her in the doorway and entered.

"Nightwing," he called out in greeting, "The big seven are having a League meeting, what is going on?"

That information brought relief and dread to Nightwing at the same time. If Batman had called a meeting with the original seven Justice League members, that meant he was telling them about Cas. Everything about her. It was relieving because it meant he wouldn't have to be the one to explain the situation, but also distressing because he didn't know how the League was going to react.

Cas laughed and Nightwing's head turned quickly in the direction of the sound. Was that the first time he had heard her laugh? Actually laugh? "Do you want to tell him or should I?" she asked enthusiastically.

"Dude?" Kid Flash quirked an eye brow.

Nightwing flinched, not caring to imagine what possibilities Wally was thinking up. "Remember when we rescued Supey from Cadmus?"

Kid Flash shook his head. "How could I not remember? We almost got our asses handed to us. And then the yelling of a lifetime from the Justice League afterwards…" he shuddered at the memory. Batman was scary when he was mad.

"And you remember the pods we got put in before we escaped?"

"Duh, one simply does not forget the amount of claustrophobia those pods created."

Nightwing ran his hand through his hair. How was he going to put this? "Well… The batcave is about to get more crowded. Cas shares 95% of my DNA. Somehow my DNA survived the explosion and…cloning happened."

Kid Flash let that sink in. His best friend had a clone? A female clone?

"Yup, I'm like the adopted sibling he didn't ask for. Granted, an adopted sibling that can punch you in the solar plexus and knock the air out of you faster than you can say Cadmus but hey, those are just the small details, am I right?" Cas' deadpan humor was starting to show.

"Wow," Kid Flash exhaled. He wasn't quite sure what to say. "I mean, as long as she's on our side. You are on our side, right?" he turned to her.

"Duh," she mocked him with a cheeky smile. "Oh, that reminds me," she said and started searching the lab until she found a pen and pad of paper. "Since I'm on your side and all, there's something you should know."

Kid Flash and Nightwing exchanged looks of confusion.

Cas was scrawling away at the pad of paper but started to talk without looking up. "KF, you can do that weird vibrating molecules thing, correct?"

"If I move fast enough. Why does it—"

"Great," she talked over him. She had written down an address and the number 283. "Your DNA survived the explosion too. Not nearly as much DNA as Nightwing's, I'd say 50-75%. That's still enough to make a non-identical twin out of you. Unless you want another speedster running around…" she trailed off, holding the sheet of paper out to him.

"What!" Kid Flash couldn't contain his shock and snatched the piece of paper. "I thought we were more careful. Wing, I gotta take care of this."

"Go," Nightwing urged. In the blink of an eye, Kid Flash was out of the room. "Thank you for that," he said softly. "You realize Deathstroke and Cadmus will be alerted when they find out that their research safety box has been broken into? And that they'll know you gave us the location of them?"

"I'm well aware. I'd be lying if I said I don't fear backlash from Deathstroke. But Cadmus? I hope they get what's coming to them. There's something else that needs to be taken care of and I want to see to it personally," Cas said through tight lips.

"What's that?" Nightwing asked with a puzzled expression.

She grinned. "Let me leave the mountain and you'll find out."


	9. Chapter 7

**Here's another chapter, I'm actually quite satisfied with the flow of it. I wanted to get Deathstroke and the Owls back into the mix so the next couple chapters are going to have a lot more of them. I haven't seen YJ Outsiders yet, but once I have, it may or may not affect this story. I'm thinking of keeping this all within the story line of season 1 and 2. Special shout out to those who reviewed, thank you so very much Asilla and Loftcat27! Thank you as well to Elemental-master0506 for adding to favorites and those who added to alerts: reach4theskye, flamelily274, and 21stcenturytrash! Thank you again :)**

* * *

 **Metropolis**

 **March 11, 2018 1:32 am**

* * *

It was astonishingly easy for Cas and Nightwing to slip away from the mountain without anyone noticing their absence. The Justice League was still in a tizzy over the new information about Cadmus' continued cloning practices and most of Young Justice was eagerly trying to eavesdrop on their meeting. Superboy had a keen interest in what information they had but tried not to let it show; he had overheard Batman telling the League that Cas was a clone. Using his powers to invade the League's privacy brought a sting of hypocrisy to Conner's conscience, but it couldn't be helped, he had already heard too much.

Nightwing found himself slinking through an alley way between two brick buildings, somewhere in Metropolis. He was being blindly led by Cas. The old Dick Grayson would have been enthralled by the mystery of what business Cas had in Metropolis, but now wasn't the optimal time for him to act spontaneously.

"Cas," Nightwing murmured up ahead, "You have to give me some kind of idea where we're going. My leg is still stuck in this walking cast and I'm not exactly in fighting shape."

Cas broke out of the shadows of the alley way and they were face to face with the front of the Metropolis Free Clinic.

Nightwing was starting to wonder what he had gotten himself into, or why he had allowed Cas to leave Mount Justice. "Look, as much as I'd love to be the William Burke to your William Hare, you have to fill me in with some details."

"Hey, how did you know I was planning on selling corpses as cadavers for medical research?" Cas asked with her head titled to the side with feigned curiosity.

"Cas," Nightwing cautioned.

She slowly crept around to the back of the clinic. "Relax, I would never let any harm come to you. There's something in the safe I need to get. I just need you to act as look out. It'll only take a minute, trust me!" she said quickly before disappearing through a back door. When had she picked the lock? She was gone before Nightwing had a chance to protest.

With his back leaning against the wall of the opposite building, Nightwing took out his holographic computer screen and searched the Metropolis Free Clinic.

"Surprise, surprise," he mumbled under his breath. The clinic was state funded, but annually received large donations from Lex Luthor himself. In other words, the clinic was linked to Cadmus. Who knew what was in the safe Cas was breaking into. Or who would respond to a break-in. So far, no alarms had gone off. That didn't put Nightwing at ease.

"Done," Cas spoke, nearly making Nightwing jump. It wasn't often that anyone snuck up on him. What the hell? How did he not hear her?

In her hand she held a vial the color of molten lead that blocked out all light and prevented him from guessing at the contents. In her arms, clutched close to her chest, were two thin binders of which Nightwing spotted a Cadmus logo on the front.

Nightwing's face held a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. "What is that?" he questioned. Then the alarms sounded.

"Shoot, no time," she said, turning the corner and picking up her pace to a run. She knew Nightwing would follow. "I'll explain at the mountain!" she exhaled in a gruff whisper as she ran away from the clinic building. The zeta was just around the corner and Nightwing wanted answers.

* * *

 **Wilson Manor**

 **March 11, 2018 3:02 am**

It wasn't unusual to find Slade Wilson awake at odd hours in the middle of the night. His servant Wintergreen had anticipated his master's erratic sleep schedule and had quietly place a steaming cup of earl grey tea on the end of the desk next to the man engrossed in a beaten leather journal.

The red chord phone tucked away in the crook of the book case on the wall began to ring shrilly into the small study, and Wintergreen moved quickly to answer it. He knew better than to allow it to ring more than three times before being answered.

If it weren't for the late hour, Deathstroke would have ignored the ringing phone. But the fact of the matter was that no one called his personal line this late into the night unless something had gone wrong. The unexpected phone call was enough to pull his head out of the journal he was reading. It was the journal of a man who recorded his every thought up until he was approached by the Court of Owls and disappeared from society completely.

"Master Wilson," Wintergreen apathetically interjected into the silence, "I believe you'll want to take this call. There's been a break-in at the clinic."

A snarl rolled deep in Deathstroke's throat before he lifted himself from the chair and took the phone from Wintergreen.

When Deathstroke's apprentice didn't return from the fight with Bane, Deathstroke had his apprehensions. He had suspected that Cas had been detained by the Justice League but that wasn't initially a concern to him. His apprentice was more than adequately trained to escape, and her loyalty was to her master. He had expected her return by now. Now with the phone up to his ear, Deathstroke's irritation grew to burning wrath; someone had broken into the research safe at the clinic. Very few people knew it existed, even fewer would be capable of breaching the level of security installed to keep its contents locked away.

Deathstroke's worst reservations had been confirmed—Cas had doubled crossed him. He wouldn't stand for this kind of rebellion. Was his apprentice truly so bold as to work for the Justice League now? The current call was ended and Deathstroke dialed a new number now.

"It's happened, initiate contingency plan C," Deathstroke spoke with clear deliverance into the phone. The person on the other end nervously confirmed that he had heard Deathstroke correctly. "Yes. Do so immediately."

* * *

The zeta beamed Cas and Nightwing into the mountain, but Cas didn't stop there. She continued through the mountain, looking for someone.

"Cas, you said when we got to the mountain…" he trailed off as he followed her. He was moving as quick as he could with the walking cast on, although keeping up with Cas was becoming difficult.

She didn't slow down. "Yeah, yeah I know," she brushed him off. "I'll explain, but we need Superboy too. This involves him," she said, holding up the vial.

The pieces were starting to come together now. Lex Luthor, Cadmus, Superboy. The vial was made of lead. There was only one reason anyone would use lead. "Kryptonite?" Nightwing guessed.

Cas crossed through the kitchen. "Worse than you're thinking," she commented, then spotted Superboy.

Superboy was lounging on the couch, flipping through channels on the tv too fast for anyone to actually watch what was displayed on the screen. He seemed too distracted by his own thoughts, yet heard Cas approaching. His demeanor stiffened, and he sat up, simultaneously grabbing for the remote and turning the tv off. Superboy didn't sleep much in comparison to his team mates.

"What are you two doing up? Did you leave the mountain?" Superboy asked, looking to Cas for the second question.

Cas sat on the opposite couch, set the binders and vial down on the coffee table, and made eye contact with Superboy. "There's something you need to know. But first, it would be really comforting to be reminded that the Justice League is still offering me protection from Slade. Because if he doesn't already want me dead, he will if I show you this."

Nightwing stood behind the couch and gave a confident nod. "You have our protection."

She inhaled a deep breath then spoke, reaching for the binder on top of the pile and turning to the first page. "Deathstroke had blueprints of the mountain, mainly the water systems. Don't ask me how he got his hands on them, but he did. In fact, multiple blueprints of the mountain," she said, flipping through the page of the binder and finally stopping on a page with multiple mathematical equations and chemical formulas. "This is the worst of it though. This is the chemical formula for what's in the vial. It's a liquified, highly concentrated form of Kryptonite. Deathstroke planned on poisoning the water system with it and… well, you can guess the rest." Cas pushed the binder towards Superboy so he could get a better look. Nightwing glanced over Superboy's shoulder.

Superboy shrunk back from the coffee table where the vial laid, his back pressing up against the cushions of the couch. "There's Kryptonite in there?" The pain he had experienced the last time he came into contact with the meteor rock was still fresh in his memory.

"Nightwing," Cas turned over her shoulder, "perhaps you should find somewhere safe to put that? You know, away from Superboy."

Nightwing nodded in agreement and stretched over the couch to grab the vial. Superboy nearly flinched when the vial got close to his face. "I'll be back," Nightwing promised before leaving the room with the vial.

Superboy wanted to thank her for taking the vial from Deathstroke. He didn't want to think of what could have happened had Cadmus used it. Both he and Superman would have been in danger. He knew thanking Cas was the right thing to do, but he didn't know how to make the words come out. Cas was a stranger who never seemed to react as expected. Instead, he turned his attention to the other binder on the coffee table.

"What's the other binder?" Superboy asked.

"This," she said, grabbing the binder, "is everything Cadmus has on me. My DNA profile, test results, implemented memories, typical Cadmus stuff. See," she opened it and flipped through the pages.

"Wait," Superboy held his hand out and stopped the page turning. There was a profile page that stood out to him. "C.A.S. Cloned Artificial Species. I don't understand, I thought your name was Cas, short for Cassandra or Cassie."

Cas shrugged. "I never really said it was a name, I said that's what you guys could call me. It's what Deathstroke called me. Cadmus too."

Anger suddenly flashed across Conner's expression. "That's not a name, you should have a real name. Wouldn't you rather go by Cassie? Or Cassandra? Those are real names," he stated. He thought about all the times the scientist at Cadmus had addressed him as 'the weapon'. It infuriated him. Those months were hell for him but couldn't possibly compare to the years Cas had been stuck with Deathstroke. He felt a wave of deep empathy he wasn't used to.

The anger confused her. "Easy, it's okay. I'll go by Cassandra from now on if it'll make you feel better."

Superboy looked down at his clenched hands. "It's not what will make me feel better. You're a person, Cassandra. You should be treated like one. With a real name."

"Everything okay here?" Nightwing asked when he reentered the lounge area.

Cassandra perked up. "Peachy. Oh, I'm going by Cassandra now. No more Cas. Cassie is fine too. Preferably Cassandra."

Nightwing felt like he must have missed something during the ten minutes it took him to safely secure the vial of liquefied Kryptonite. "Sure, whatever makes you comfortable. Superboy, Batman and Superman have been notified of the situation with the vial. Also, Batman wants a training session with everyone tomorrow. Something about situating Cassandra with the team dynamic. He wants her to join a mission soon to see how we all work together."

Superboy sighed. "Seven AM?"

Nightwing chuckled, "Seven AM," he confirmed. That didn't give them much time for sleep. The three of them left the lounge area to return to their respective rooms to get as much rest as they could before the training session.

* * *

By 6:55 AM, most of the old Young Justice team members were assembled in the training room of Mount Justice. Artemis sat cross-legged on the mat, stringing her bow. Red Arrow tapped his foot with impatience, Kid Flash was chewing thoughtfully on a protein bar, Nightwing was chatting with Miss Martian, and Superboy stood still like a statue with his arms crossed. Only one person remained missing.

"You told her seven, right?" Red Arrow asked Nightwing.

He stopped talking with M'gann. "Yes, she knows what time training is. She still has four minutes, give her a chance."

"Eager for a rematch?" Artemis looked up from her bow with a snicker. Cassandra was the first person she had seen throw Red Arrow around like a rag doll.

Red Arrow scowled, "If everyone else has to get up early, she should too. What time is it?"

"One minute 'til seven," Kid Flash said before popping the last bit of protein bar into his mouth. They waited until seven, then another minute.

Superboy could see the tension increasing in Red Arrow and didn't feel like breaking up a fight this early in the morning. "I'll go see where she is," he offered. Superboy found the guest room that was now Cassandra's and gave the door three knocks. "Cassandra, it's past seven. Everyone is waiting," he said from behind the door. There was no answer. He stood there uncomfortably for a moment before knocking again. "Cassie?" he tried. Still nothing. If it were Kid Flash's or Nightwing's room, he would enter and see if anyone was in the room. But this was Cassandra's room. He sighed briskly and walked back to the training room.

"Oh come on!" Red Arrow griped when Superboy returned without Cassandra. Black Canary had arrived a moment ago and had been talking with the team about what training they would be focusing on today.

Superboy shrugged. "I knocked on her door, no answer. She must be asleep still."

"This is a team training session. Cassandra is part of the team now and we can't start without her," said Black Canary.

"In that case, someone's in for a rude awakening," Red Arrow grumbled on his way over to the rooms.

"This won't end well," Nightwing said, following after him.

"Not at all," Superboy added when he decided to join them.

It started with Red Arrow yelling from behind the door, and when it didn't open or get a response from Cassandra, he forced it open. The commotion encouraged Miss Martian, Kid Flash, and Artemis to see what was going on. Soon everyone was either standing in the door way or in the small bedroom. Cassandra was sound asleep.

"Get your lazy ass up already!" Red Arrow shouted, and when she didn't stir, he shook her shoulder. "If everyone else can manage to get up at seven in the morning, you sure as hell can too!" He really gave her shoulder an aggressive shake, but it was like she didn't feel it at all. "She sleeps like the freaking dead!"

Nightwing's slight amusement dropped from his face. Most people would at least stir in their sleep. Cassie may not be a normal human, but still. He reached out and gently pressed two fingers to the side of her neck. "She barely has a pulse," he breathed out in panic. Nightwing stepped closer and grabbed her wrist, about to take her pulse from there to make sure he wasn't imaging the faint pulse. That's when he noticed the veins running up her arm were an unusual burgundy color. "What?"

Everyone in the room went quiet. With the silence, Superboy was able to focus his hearing on Cassandra's heartbeat. Nightwing was right, her heart was barely beating. "What's wrong?" he asked, stepping forward.

Nightwing stepped aside so they could see her arm. "Someone get Batman. Tell him it's urgent," he commanded. It was Miss Martian that left the room to get him. Dread and anger flooded through Nightwing. "How did this happen! We told her we'd keep her safe, I told her," he corrected himself. "I told her if she helped give us information, nothing bad would happen, dammit!"

Kid Flash had gotten a better look at the purplish red veins. He recognized the symptoms. In one of his chemistry classes, they had learned about chemical color changes at different PH levels as well as interactions with the acid and base levels of the blood. There was an interesting interaction that happened to the blood when poisonous Burdonelli leaf entered the bloodstream. He also remembered that patients were found dead within 24 hours of contact with the poison. It's nearly impossible for the person poisoned to recognize they've been in contact with the poison. No previous symptoms appear until the person is in a coma.

"Burdonelli?" Kid Flash asked quietly to Nightwing.

He nodded. "I think so."

"Hold on," Artemis stepped into the conversation, "How did this happen? Who would have been able to get in and out of the mountain so quietly?"

Superboy was standing with his back against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. "Deathstroke had blueprints of the mountain," he said somberly.

"When were you planning on telling us this!" Artemis raged.

Superboy didn't flinch at her anger. "Late last night, Cassandra told me. I was planning on bringing it up at team training. There's probably a lot of important information she could tell us, and Deathstroke is trying to get her out of the picture."

Nightwing was stepping towards the door. "We're wasting time now. Kid Flash, you and I both know what the antidotal plant looks like. We can zeta to the amazon rain forest and start a search."

"Why bother," Red Arrow interrupted. "Who cares if she dies. If she does, Cadmus can always make you another one."

That did it. Superboy had an amazing hold on his anger for years now, but in that moment, he couldn't contain it. In the blink of an eye, Superboy shot across the room and had Red Arrow's shoulders pinned against the wall in a vice like grip. "She's a person!" he shouted in Red Arrow's face.

The atmosphere in the room tensed when Superboy threw the first punch across Red Arrow's face and a full out brawl erupted between the two. Everyone else stood frozen until it occurred to them that they should probably break up the fight before Superboy really hurt Roy.

"Conner!" Miss Martian shouted from the doorway when she came back with Batman. She used her telekinetic abilities to pull Superboy and Red Arrow away from each other. Red Arrow looked worse for wear and Superboy didn't have a scratch on him.

Nightwing didn't have time for this. He could understand Superboy's reaction though. Superboy was a Cadmus clone too. Red Arrow had insinuated that if Superboy had died, it would be insignificant because he could be replaced with a new clone. No person wanted to be described as replaceable. Things were replaceable, people weren't.

"Batman, I suspect Cas—Cassandra has been poisoned with Burdonelli leaf. Kid Flash and I are leaving now to get the antidote."

Batman had glanced over the room once and assessed the situation. He'd have to talk to Red Tornado about the vulnerabilities in Mount Justice's security. "About how long has she been exposed to the poison?"

Nightwing did the easy math in his head. They got back to the mountain around three A.M. and they didn't see Cassandra again until seven A.M. "Around four hours. KF, let's go," he said and the two of them left.

Red Arrow stormed out of the room and Artemis followed him to do damage control. Roy was her friend, sort of. They shared the same mentor which almost made them close. Close enough that she felt like she should calm down his anger before he did something stupid again. Roy really knew how to put his foot in his mouth.

Miss Martian felt uncomfortable staying in the room and made an excuse to leave. Now only Superboy and Batman remained in the room with Cassandra. Batman didn't plan on leaving until Nightwing and Kid Flash returned with the antidote. He didn't trust Deathstroke wouldn't pull another stunt to assure Cassandra's death. Superboy didn't feel like leaving either.

Batman checked Cassandra's pulse, only to find what he expected; it was still weak. The poison was spreading exceedingly fast. Cassandra's face was ashen and the way her body laid lifelessly still made her look like a medical draining dummy more than a person. Batman didn't like how easily someone had come into the mountain and poisoned her. What if it had been any of the other team members? What if it had been Nightwing?

"Red Arrow said something careless, didn't he," Batman stated, breaking the silence that had settled over the room. He knew Superboy had better control over his anger than to start a fight like that. Something must have set him off. For years Batman had been silently proud of how far Superboy had come as well as proud of Superman for adjusting to his role as a mentor.

"I'm more than just a clone," Superboy started, "Cassandra is more than just a clone. We didn't ask to be created but here we are. It's hard enough to feel like we have any sense of identity as a person without having someone remind us that we're not individuals; we're merely a copy."

Batman gave a small nod. So Roy did say something careless. Batman didn't know what to say to that. It was all true though. Even if he wasn't exactly happy Nightwing had a clone to worry about, it was already done. Cassandra had been created and she was a person. Batman didn't ask for a son or the amount of hostility embedded in Damian's personality, but he was his son. And they had grown closer. Not everything in life comes to you as you expect it, but you make the best of it. Sometimes you'd be surprised with a positive outcome. That was the advice Alfred had given him when he found out about Damian. Alfred certainly had a more positive outlook on life than Bruce did.

Time passed. Batman only left the room occasionally to check in with the Justice League for updates on Deathstroke's whereabouts. Then Kid Flash returned through the zeta. He found Batman quickly, a strange plant with a bright orange flower was clutched in his hand.

"Bats, we have a problem," he sputtered quickly. "I've got the antidote," he said, handing it over. Batman didn't miss the fact that Nightwing wasn't with him and his eyes narrowed. "I can't find Nightwing anywhere. His com link is down, and his ID hasn't been used on the zeta since we entered the rain forest. And I found this stuck in one of the tree trunks near the zeta," he said, handing over a throwing knife.

Batman examined the knife, but he recognized it immediately. The spiraling metal of the handle ended at an owl head perched at the base. His hand clutched the knife so hard the leather of his gloves stretched with the strain. "Talons."


	10. Chapter 8

**As you'll see in this story, the dates/times are set further back than anything close to the real date/time. I purposely did this from the start so that I could use time gaps when appropriate and keep the storyline going. Side note, I finally did watch YJ Outsiders and loved the metagene plot lines. Thank you to anyone who does read this, I'll make more chapter updates from now on :)**

* * *

 **Gotham City Subway**

 **West Harlow, 200 feet underground**

 **March 11, 2018 9:17am**

"These readings are all off, I don't understand how this happened."

Nightwing listened to the voice but didn't recognize the owner. Dick's eyes were closed, his breathing was kept steady and shallow, he felt the cold sting of metal biting into the skin of his wrists, and he focused on the sounds in the room. The longer he could keep up the impression he was still unconscious, the more intel he could gather about his surroundings.

Dick didn't like the situation he was in. Someone got the drop on him in the Amazon which really got on his nerves. How many more failures was he going to suffer? Did they get to KF as well? How long had he been out? There were far too many questions running through his head, including whether or not the antidote got to Cassandra and if Batman would be able to trace the tracking device in his suit. Additionally, if his captures were intelligent enough to remove said tracking device.

"Let me see that," a second voice requested. "No, this can't be right. The Electrum unit was implemented nearly five years ago. His Electrum content should be close to full capacity by now, yet these reports are showing a reading at 67%. Get me the x-rays."

Electrum…that's all Dick needed to hear to know who he was dealing with. He had hoped after the Electrum started to leave his body, the Talons would set their sights on someone else. Apparently, he had been wrong about that.

"Well I'll be damned," one of the men said to the other in disbelief, "He removed the unit. _He knows_ ," he mused. "The detective must have figured it out and removed the device. This is problematic."

"What a pain, we'll have to reconfigure his memories. How far back do you think we'll have to go?"

Oh hell no, Nightwing wasn't about to let anyone go near his mind. He needed to get himself out of this situation, quick.

"A lot, take him to the lab and let them figure it out. But do it now, it's going to take a while to scrub away 5 years' worth of tainted memories."

That was his cue. Nightwing opened his eyes to see an overly sterile operating room and he finally got a better view of the men who had been conversing. His arms were still strapped to his sides where he laid on a medical bed on wheels. A strong tug showed him the bonds on his wrists weren't about to break very easily.

"Hey!" one of the men shouted when he realized that Nightwing had awoken.

Nightwing twisted his body as much as the restraints would let him until he tipped the entire medical bed over on its side. Once the medical bed was turned on the side, he was able to pull his legs up closer towards his hands. If the men had been smart, they would have pinned down his legs too. Or checked his boot for the knife he still had tucked away for situations just like these. They never thought to check the boot.

But he wasn't quick enough. Even though he bought himself a few extra seconds by tipping over the medical bed, the two men reacted before Nightwing could use the knife on the bindings on his wrists. He felt a sharp pinch on his arm and then his breathing began to slow. "What—what did you do," he mumbled, realizing his speech was slowing down as well.

"Sweet dreams, Grayson."

* * *

In the corner of the med bay at Mount Justice, a very anxious Wally West sat in a chair tapping his foot nervously at superspeed. The others went to search for Nightwing. Batman had tracked the GPS in Nightwing's suit to the subway system under Gotham, but he couldn't get an exact read on which area of the subway he was located. Every minute that ticked by without word from Batman only made Wally feel worse. The only useful thing Wally could do was stare across the room at the unconscious form that was Cassandra and hope the antidote took effect soon.

It had felt like an hour had gone by, yet when Wally checked the clock, he could see only ten minutes had passed. He covered his face with both his hands and exhaled a long, frustrated breath.

Through the spaces of his fingers, he spotted movement.

"What happened," Cassie groaned as she shifted her weight from sitting up to swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Every muscle in her body ached like she had just put herself through a rigorous training session with Deathstroke. Her head felt like an old radio that couldn't quite keep steady on a single clear station.

Wally sprung up from his place on the chair. "You're okay!" he chirped with a smile of relief.

Cassie rubbed her temples as if Wally's chipper tone of voice hurt her head. "Again, what happened? I don't appreciate falling asleep in one place and waking up in another. Why do I feel like I got hit by a truck only to have that truck back it up and give it a second go around?"

To answer her question, Wally walked over to the computer screen next to the bedside and pulled up her blood work results. "You were poisoned. We're still trying to piece together some answers about the who and how, but it got pretty serious for a minute there. Luckily Nightwing and I have seen this poison before and knew where to get the antidote."

Cassie inched forward until her feet touched the ground and she tested the strength in her legs before standing up and bearing her full weight on her feet. The room swayed and Cassie blinked a few times as if that would steady her vision. Nightwing… "Where is Nightwing? Please tell me he wasn't poisoned too." That didn't make sense though. She had a feeling it was likely one of Deathstroke's associates that poisoned her. Deathstroke wouldn't dare endanger his precious future apprentice.

Kid Flash continued staring at the computer screen instead of answering her.

"Well, was he? Where is he?" the concern began to rise in her voice.

Wally knew he couldn't avoid answering forever. His eye contact shifted back and forth from her eyes back down to the ground. "Something happened when Nightwing and I went to get the antidote from the Amazon rain forest. Batman and the others are currently looking for him in Gotham. Batman suspects the Talons are responsible."

Cassie's eyes went wide and she threw her hands up in exasperation. "What! Are you freaking kidding me? See, this is exactly what happens when I'm not around to protect him!" she started to rant while heading for the door. Kid Flash was there in an instant to stand in front of the door and block her way.

"What do you think you're doing? You just woke up from a coma. Batman and the others are trying to track him now, let them handle it."

In response, Cassandra shook her head and regretted it immediately when her head felt unsteady again. "Let me guess, he's scouring the many different subways below Gotham and hoping that he finds which one Nightwing has been taken to. Do you even know how many different areas are below Gotham?" she waited but only received silence from Wally. "I know where the Talons have taken him. So move. Now."

"You know where he might be?"

She huffed in annoyance, "How many times do I have to tell you people? I know things, a lot of things. Let's go, you're wasting time. I can't **believe** you guys let the Talons get to Nightwing." Once again Cas tried to push past Wally but he didn't move.

"Batman is already down there," Wally said, holding an arm out to stop her, "Just tell me where he might be and I'll radio the location to Batman."

Wally and Cassandra locked eyes in a long stare down. "Look here, _Kid_ Flash," she nearly hissed his name. "You already failed to protect Nightwing, so you don't get to call the shots anymore. Where is your com link?" she held her hand out expectantly.

Her words were a red-hot poker straight into his chest. He knew he should have done better to protect his friend. Reluctantly, Kid Flash handed over the com link to Cassandra.

Cassandra took the com link and passed through the door that Wally no longer tried to guard. Once she was near the zeta beam, she pressed the link. "Batman, you need to narrow your search to West Harlow. The Talons set up a temporary base years ago. This is most likely where they took Nightwing."

" _Confirmed, stay put."_

"Not a chance," Cas answered before turning the com link off. She typed in the coordinates she needed and got ready to step through when the blinding blue light illuminated the metal frame of the zeta portal. Only milliseconds behind her, Kid Flash followed through.

* * *

Batman suspected the Talons would be expecting them. Miss Martian and Artemis were covering the entrance and exit of the subway tunnels in case the Talons were spooked and tried to escape. Batman, Superboy, and Red Arrow were currently walking down the dark subway tunnel, their pathway only illuminated by a small light shining down in front of their feet. They were getting close. Now that they were in the right subway tunnel, the GPS tracker from Nightwing's suit was getting stronger.

Abruptly, Batman stopped in front of one of the wall panels of the subway tunnel. "Here," he instructed. His gloved hands traced the panels of cold metal until he found the right spot, gave a two palmed push, and the panel slide aside to reveal a doorway.

Bright light greeted their eyes once the door opened. There was a long hallway with doors lining down the pathway on both sides. The bright sterile feel reminded Red Arrow of a hospital in the worst kind of way.

It didn't look anything like Superboy would imagine a group of assassins like the Talons would pick for their underground base. It was all a little too bright. Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door handle being turned.

"This way," Batman ordered in a hushed whisper, picking a door closest to them and ushering the others in before they could be spotted. They needed to find Nightwing and get out without drawing attention to themselves.

The room they barged into was similar to the one Dick was being held in earlier; there was a medical bed in the center of the room surrounded by medical equipment such as scalpels, drills, syringes, and an unidentified glowing blue liquid in an IV bag.

"What in the hell is that," Red Arrow questioned aloud as he approached the glowing blue IV bag with an outstretched hand.

"Don't touch that!" Batman snapped before Red Arrow could reach it. "It looks like Electrum. Don't touch anything you see here. Let's go."

Red Arrow wanted to roll his eyes. It wasn't like he was going to go drink it, he just wanted to get a better look.

Batman walked to the door, stopped, and listened. When he didn't hear any sounds coming from the other side of the door, he noiselessly opened it a small crack and peaked through. The coast was clear, for now. The three men slipped out and began to walk down the hallway towards the rooms where Nightwing's tracking device was giving off a signal. That's when a Talon rounded the corner and stopped straight in his tracks. His hands slid down to his sides where he withdrew two long bladed knives.

Batman's eyes narrowed and he crouched into a defensive stance. "Start searching rooms, find Nightwing," he told the other two before charging head on at the Talon.

* * *

Superboy and Red Arrow split in different directions and opened the doors closest to them. The room Red Arrow went into was pitch dark. He pulled out a spark arrow and lit it ablaze to give him more light. There was nothing in the room at all. "What kind of place is this," he muttered to himself.

" _Guys, we've got company," Artemis said through the com link._

" _I think they know we're here," Miss Martian added._

Superboy ran to the end of the hallway and grabbed the last door on the left. He turned the doorknob but it was locked. He had a good feeling about this one. Superboy took a few steps back before turning his shoulder inward and making a running tackle at the door.

" _Miss Martian, Artemis, pull back. Return to the bioship. Superboy, Red Arrow, if you don't find Nightwing in the next five minutes, get out," Batman said between a grunt or two while jumping away from a knife slash from the Talon he was fighting._

" _Red Arrow, last door on the left, we have a problem," Superboy said._

The room Superboy went into was a perfect square, each wall perfectly symmetrical. Directly in the middle sat Nightwing with his arms and legs strapped into a wooden chair. On the wall in front of Nightwing was a large screen with a checkered swirling display of hypnotism. And the Talon overseeing Nightwing's memory realignment procedure.

"What are you doing to him!" Superboy bellowed in rage. He took a running start across the room and his tackle towards the Talon almost looked like he had flown across the room in his haste of anger.

The Talon wasn't about to be taken out so easily though. Superboy tackled the Talon to the ground then had to jerk back to avoid the knife swipe that just nearly missed his neck. They pushed away from each other and scrambled to their feet before Superboy took another swing at the Talon, this time connecting with the jaw of the Talon and sending him staggering backwards.

Red Arrow ran into the room and took in the scene.

"Get Nightwing away from that screen!" Superboy shouted while he had a second before the Talon ran at him with another attack.

Red Arrow hurried over to his friend and kneeled in front of the chair. Nightwing's eyes were open but he seemed miles away with a glossed over and zoned out look on his face. Using the sharp end point of an arrow, Red Arrow cut away at the bindings keeping his arms and legs tied to the chair. Nightwing slumped slightly, he opened his mouth to speak but the response was a slurred sound Red Arrow couldn't make words out of. Red Arrow grabbed Nightwing's arm and slung it over his neck, then stood up, supporting Nightwing's weight as he did.

Superboy's attacks were becoming increasingly aggressive against the Talon as well as the speed of his hits. He wanted this over, he wanted to get his friend back home. He wasn't about to let a group of assassins brainwash his friend and force him to be something he's not. Superboy ducked under a punch and then shoved the Talon with all his force against the wall. The back of the Talon's head hit the wall with the force of the shove and he slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Easy now, I've got you," Red Arrow spoke to Nightwing as he began to shift him away from the chair and slowly shuffled towards the door. Superboy came over and took Nightwing's other arm and wrapped it around his neck. Together Red Arrow and Superboy helped Nightwing away from the room.

Nightwing was disoriented and his focus shifted in and out. He could hear the two people talking to him, he knew they were his friends Roy and Conner. But how did he get here? Where was here and why did he feel so dizzy? It had been so long since he last worked with Red Arrow and Superboy on a mission. Which mission was it and why couldn't he remember? And since when did Red Arrow work with others?

When they got back to the hallway, Batman was fighting an increasing number of Talons but was now joined with Kid Flash and Cassandra. Red Arrow was confused by the new additions to the fight but didn't question it. Batman spotted Red Arrow and Superboy with Nightwing. If Batman hadn't been in the middle of a fight with a Talon, he would have sighed with relief at the sight of Nightwing.

"Artemis and Miss Martian are waiting on the Bioship. Get him to the med bay," Batman ordered over the loud sounds of the chaotic fight. Superboy and Red Arrow didn't need to be told twice.

Kid Flash could see one of the Talons move out of the corner of his eye and the projectile of the Talon's attack was aimed at the escaping Nightwing. KF sped over to the Talon and knocked the throwing knife out of the air. "I'll cover your backs, just get Nightwing to the bioship!"

Cassandra turned at the sound of KF's shouts and saw that Red Arrow and Superboy were helping Nightwing get out. Good, now all they had to do was take down these Talons and get out themselves. The fight had been chaotic so far; Kid Flash and she showed up just in time to see a group of Talons try to ambush Batman. There were so many noises and movements all around her, but she was used to chaotic scenes.

"Cassandra, the smoke screen, now!" Batman yelled out an order. They had been fighting well together so far, despite Cassandra not liking taking orders from anyone. With a grin from cheek to cheek, Cassandra took out three smoke spheres and threw them roughly down at the ground. Instantly the metallic spheres expanded and dispersed a thick cloud of grey smoke around the hallway. The Talons would no doubt be used to a smoke screen, but it would buy them enough time to get out. Honestly, Cassandra wanted to fight more and knock some more Talons down on their asses, but she wasn't fighting at 100%. She may have taken the antidote for the poison, but she wasn't entirely recovered.

Cassie ran to the end of the hallway and away from the smoke screen. She kept running until she was out of the hallway and back into the subway tunnel. A moment later Kid Flash and Batman joined her.

Now that they were all out and safe, Cassandra took a deep breath of cold underground air and it made her head spin momentarily. It wasn't until now that she realized how much she had put her body through when she was still recovering from being poisoned, not that she'd let that show.

"What happened?" Kid Flash asked Batman as they started to walk through the subway.

"Artemis and Miss Martian took Nightwing to the med bay at Mount Justice. He's being evaluated now," he spoke and stopped at the location of the closest zeta portal. He didn't say anything more as he put in the coordinates and stepped through. Cassandra and Kid Flash exchanged a look before stepping through.

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **March 11, 2018 2:13 pm**

Nightwing woke up with a jolt and looked around at his surroundings. He was at the medical bay in Mount Justice. Which was odd to him, why Mount Justice? If anything, he'd end up at the Watchtower Med Bay or the Batcave if he got hurt. Which begged the question, did he get hurt? He remembered waking up and being helped out of somewhere by Red Arrow and Superboy. Was there a mission?

"Hey, look who's up," Kid Flash beamed brightly.

Nightwing looked confused for a moment. "KF? Huh, I must have really gotten my ass handed to me," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Where's Batman?" he asked as he started to get up from the bed.

Now it was Kid Flash's turn to look confused. "You actually want to go see Batman?"

Nightwing got up to his feet and shrugged. "Well, sure. He'll probably chew me out for messing up whatever mission we were on, but I can take it. I really should go check in with him. How bad did it get that he had to call Red Arrow and Superboy as backup? I mean, really, Red Arrow? He would rather shoot himself with his own arrow than work with someone else," he chuckled.

"Wing, what are you talking about? Red Arrow has been working with Young Justice for months now," Kid Flash said with a small shake of his head.

"Roy? That's a good one. Where's Bats anyway?" he asked while sliding past Kid Flash and walking out of the med bay.

Kid Flash was starting feel a growing amount of concern. "That's a good idea, let's go find Batman."

They walked through Mount Justice, Nightwing stopping every so often to stare at details of the mountain. When had so many changes been made? Had he not noticed it before? Impossible.

Batman was standing with Superboy, Artemis, Red Arrow, and Cassandra. They had been conferring on everything that had happened so far with the Talons.

"Look who's up and about," Kid Flash said, and then very quietly as he passed by Batman, " _And very confused."_

"Red Arrow, KF tells me you've been working with Young Justice now. How long has that been going on?" he asked. He thought Roy was his friend, why didn't he know this?

Red Arrow looked to the others and then back at Nightwing. "What do you mean? Months now, you know this. You were the first person I talked to when I was trying to decide if I wanted to stay solo or not. You were the one that helped me see it's better to stick with a team. Especially after the Bane incident."

Now Nightwing looked with surprised eyes at Batman. "Bane incident?"

It was now clear that something was very wrong with Nightwing.

"What date is it today?" Batman asked him.

Nightwing quirked an eyebrow but realized that Batman was being serious. "Uh, January 19th, unless it's morning now. Possibly January 20th, how long was I sleeping?"

"January? Of what year?" Batman asked.

"Bats, you're really starting to worry me now," he said. Nightwing looked out the window and saw it was still day. "January 19th, 2017."

"Oh hell," Red Arrow mumbled when he started to piece it altogether. That screen wasn't just hypnotizing Dick, it was messing with his memories.

Cassandra shook her head and let out a sigh. "Nightwing, it's March 11th, 2018."

Nightwing kept waiting for someone to say they were joking. No, that couldn't be. That just couldn't be. And who was this new person with dark hair and blue eyes?

* * *

 **Well that's that, Nightwing has some memory loss that may or may not be permanent. Let me know what you think in the reviews :) Should Dick forget his fight with Bruce? Or should he eventually get his memories back? Keep in mind, losing a year worth of his memories would improve his relationship with Bruce but then he would have never remembered going to Bludhaven or being a police officer.**


	11. Chapter 9

**A bit of a shameless self plug here, but I've created a website for a Young Justice roleplay/rp site. If anyone is interested, send me a message and I'll give you more info. The short info is that it's chatbox style rp, so you don't have to worry about any lengthy forum style roleplay. It's a bit more interactive in real time. All characters would exist in the Young Justice universe but would be original characters, similar to how Cassandra is in this story. Anyway, let me know by PM if you're interested and I can send you the link :)**

I felt like this story needed a little bit of Batfam time. This chapter is mostly a recap/answering some unanswered questions and setting up the story for a bit of a time jump. The end does have some important information that is going to shift the story into a new direction. Surprisingly although this story is just about 25k words, these chapters have really been setting things up for the real story to begin. I know it's been a lot of Cas and hasn't really gotten into all the Nightwing parts I want to get to. So here we go :) Thank you again to those who are reading and reviewing 3

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

 **March 11th, 2018 7:23 pm**

The kitchen of Wayne manor filled with the warm aroma of Alfred's homemade tomato soup. Anyone who knew Alfred knew the man had too much pride in his cooking to ever use soup from a can. Alfred stirred the pot of soup with his left hand and used a spatula with his right to flip a grilled cheese sandwich, all the while humming a soft tune to himself.

Tim rested his elbows on the island and watched with a bored expression on his face as Alfred continued to busy around the kitchen. Tim had been overjoyed when he heard Dick was coming back to Wayne manor, but he wasn't expecting the circumstances his quasi brother would finally return home in. From what little details the adults would divulge, Tim knew that Dick had been injured in a fight with Bane and that for some reason or another he didn't remember the last year ever happening. That last part sounded like a blessing to Tim. Maybe now they could be a family again.

"Can I go see Dick now?" Tim asked for the fourth time.

Alfred didn't look up from the pot of soup he was stirring. "As I've told you 30 minutes ago, Master Tim, Dick needs his rest."

"Aww, come on Alfred, I've got so much to show him. He hasn't been at the manor for awhile now. Just wait until he sees the designs for my own version of the R cycle," Tim talked with his hands in a very animated way.

Alfred grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, filled it with two large ladles of soup, and then transferred a grilled cheese from the pan to a plate. He balanced both perfectly, one in each hand, and set them down in front of Tim.

"I know you would like to visit with him but be patient," advised Alfred. "Master Bruce believes—" Alfred was cut off by the shrill ring of the phone hanging on the kitchen wall. Alfred quickly grabbed a spoon to set in front of Tim before reaching for the phone.

"Alfred Pennyworth," he answered and waited to see who was on the other side of the line. This phone in particular had a few versatile uses. It was often used when Bruce or Dick needed a third party to relay information between their dual identities without the person calling knowing the hero and civilian identity was the same.

" _Ah, Dr. Pennyworth, I'm glad I was able to reach you. This is Sergeant Amy Rohrbach from the Blüdhaven PD. I'm calling in regard to a patient of yours, Richard Grayson. He's one of my officers. I understand he's under your treatment since the terrible car accident he got caught up in. He left me a message explaining what happened and that he needed to take time off to recover, but I haven't heard from him since then. To be frank I'm a bit worried about the Rookie, he hasn't returned any of my calls."_

Alfred pondered over that information. Dick needed someone to help explain his absence from his civilian identity's day job as a police officer. Alfred knew vaguely of Dick being sworn into the Blüdhaven Police Department and he would be lying if he said he hadn't worried more about Dick taking down criminals in a police uniform than as Nightwing.

But hearing his Sergeant call to check up on him was reassuring and brought warmth to his voice when he answered, "Sergeant Rohrbach, pleasure to hear from you. I'm afraid Mr. Richard Grayson's injuries are more complex than we originally presumed. He will need extensive physical therapy and then we will reevaluate his condition. I am hopeful but I should forewarn you it may be some time yet before he meets the physical requirements to return as an officer. You should consider your officer on indefinite leave."

Tim was slowly nibbling on torn pieces of grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup, but it was obvious he was listening in on Alfred's conversation. He had always wondered why Dick chose to become a police officer but now he may never find out the answer to that question.

" _I was afraid you'd say something like that. Please give him my regards to a speedy recovery. Thank you, Dr. Pennyworth."_

Alfred hung up the phone and turned back to face Tim although the butler already knew Tim had been listening. Usually he would remind Tim that the proper place to eat a meal was at the dining room table but today he would allow Tim to casually eat in the kitchen because he knew the young master was concerned for his brother.

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

 **March 11th, 2018 10:47pm**

Night had settled over Wayne manor and Tim finally got his wish granted to spend time with Dick. On the other side of the manor, Bruce was in his study staring intently into the fire before him; although, his mind was miles away from the scene in front of him. He was only pulled from his thoughts when he heard Jason enter the study and close the door behind him.

"We need to talk about what's been going on with Dick," Jason immediately stated his purpose for entering the study. Jason stayed near the wall, leaned against it stiffly, and crossed his arms.

Bruce shifted in his seat to face Jason. "Then let's talk.

"I want to know everything Cassandra has told you. And if there's anything she hasn't told you yet, I want to know it tonight. I'm not leaving anything to chance. We need to get ahead of this," Jason said in a low voice.

Intensity may roll off Jason in tsunami sized waves, but Bruce and Jason shared the same protective instincts when it came to family.

"July of 2013; Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad went to Cadmus unbeknown to the League. During their attempt to rescue Superboy, the three were collected in containment pods. DNA samples were collected." Jason's face twisted into a deeper frown. "Once they escaped the pods, Robin threw explosive disks at the pods. He was under the impression the DNA samples were destroyed with the pods. 22 of the 23 chromosomes survived and a close was made. Cadmus gave her the name CAS, standing for Cloned Artificial Species."

"I was wondering why his clone was a chick," Jason said with a shake of his head.

"Deathstroke broke into Cadmus and stole their clone. For five years Deathstroke trained Cassandra as his apprentice, but also training her to become a protector of the person Deathstroke truly wanted as an apprentice, Dick. Cassandra informed me that the attack Bane made on Dick was orchestrated by Lex Luthor. Lex wanted revenge on Deathstroke for stealing a clone from Cadmus and he determined the best revenge on Deathstroke would be to kill his prized apprentice. Deathstroke anticipated something like that might happen and had Cassandra tailing Nightwing every time he went out on a patrol."

Jason ground his teeth. "That son of a bitch, Luthor. I have to ask you though, Bruce, who is her alliance to? She spent 5 years with Deathstroke. How do we know she wasn't sent here by Deathstroke with the plan to spy on us? She could be feeding information to Deathstroke."

Bruce gave a curt nod. "I did consider this possibility. There appears to be a lot of bitterness and resentment towards Deathstroke from her. You remember her explosive outburst during the training session. She also stole a weaponized form of Kryptonite from a clinic owned by Luthor. She did so knowing that Deathstroke would find out. It was a form of betrayal of confidence against Deathstroke. Her priority is to protect Nightwing, and that priority seems stronger than any alliance to Deathstroke. Dick still needs protection."

"What do you mean by that?" Jason asked.

"Deathstroke was also aware of the Court of Owls involvement with Dick. I don't think Cassandra was poisoned by Deathstroke to get her to stop giving us information. Cassandra was poisoned with the intent to get Dick to the Amazon Rain Forest where the Talons were waiting to ambush him. They came to the realization that the electrum unit they implemented in Dick was no longer there and that the level of electrum has been leaving his body for years now. The only way to get Dick to forget that he shouldn't have electrum in his body or that he was meant to be a Talon, was to erase his memories. I'm uncertain how far back they intended to eliminate his memories, but Superboy found him before it could completely erase all memories of the past 5 years. He lost a little over a year."

"A little over a year, huh?" Jason mused. "So that big blowout fight you two had that led to Dick packing up his life and moving to Blüdhaven?"

"No memory of it."

Jason uncrossed his arms. "Fate has smiled down on you, Bruce. You two have been given a second chance. Don't screw it up this time. You two need to get past your differences."

Bruce opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Tim opening the study door.

"Guys, c'mon. Dick is asking for you two. At least give him a little bit of time before you leave for a patrol. And you know what?" Tim started with a grin, "He seems happy. I mean, actually happy."

* * *

 **Gotham City**

 **March 12th, 2018 2:52 am**

Cassandra exited the zeta portal and stepped foot into an alleyway in Gotham. It was nearly 3 in the morning but when Batman requests you meet him in Gotham, regardless of what time, you didn't say no. She wrapped her arms around herself with a slight shiver. Was it really that cold or was she still not feeling 100% after being poisoned? Cassandra shifted that thought aside.

Finally, a shadow cast down the long alleyway and Cassandra waited to see if it was who she was waiting for.

Batman emerged from the shadows and stepped a few feet away from Cassandra. "Have you been in contact with Deathstroke?" he asked.

"What? N-no, of course not," Cassandra sputtered. The last time she had talked to him was through a com link on the night Nightwing was attacked by Bane.

"I want you to get in contact with him once more. Convince him that your alliance is still to him."

Cassandra's face flinched at the thought of going back to Deathstroke and his abuse. "Why?"

"I want you to double cross Deathstroke. Convince him that the only reason you've been here with Young Justice is to continue protecting Nightwing and to collect information on the heroes around him. Do whatever is necessary to persuade Deathstroke you never intended to join the heroes but were actually double crossing them."

Cassandra shook her head, "He'll never believe that. I stole something from a clinic owned by Cadmus. The only people that knew about the vial were Lex, Deathstroke, and me. He already knows I've crossed sides."

"Tell him you had to do something to prove to the heroes you really wanted to cross to the heroes' side. Say it was the only way they'd allow you to stay by Nightwing's side," Batman pushed.

Her eyebrows scrunched together deep in thought. "I don't have a com link with him anymore, I'd have to go to him in person."

"You want to keep Nightwing safe, don't you?" Batman asked.

"Of course, but—"

"The only way we can keep him safe is to know what the other side is planning. You said it before, you knew things because you were with Deathstroke. We need that inside information again. Tomorrow you will contact Deathstroke and rejoin him as his apprentice."

Cassandra looked down at her feet in thought. When she looked up to confirm she'd do what Batman wanted, he was gone. With a long sigh, Cassandra turned back to the zeta portal and walked through.

 **Cassandra C 01 the zeta announced.**

She wished she could hush the zeta announcement because it was now 3 in the morning. Despite how exhausted she was, Cassandra knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with all that was on her mind now. Instead of going to the guest room that was now claimed as her own, she went to the lounge area and sat on the green couch in front of the tv. Putting the volume on low, she sat down and started to flip through channels.

Her focus wasn't entirely on the tv; it was floating through thoughts of what it would be like to go back to Deathstroke, and how dangerous it would be to go back with an ulterior motive. Slade was a smart man, and he wouldn't tolerate betrayal. Cassandra was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Conner who had woken up in the middle of the night and crossed into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Conner was about to go back to his room when he noticed the tv was on and walked into the lounge area. "Still up?" he questioned.

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah, I guess so. I couldn't sleep," she answered hazily.

Conner came around and sat down next to her. "Couldn't sleep? You look exhausted."

"I'm, nah I'm fine," Cassandra brushed it off. Then she felt a warm hand pressed against her forehead.

"You're burning up with a fever," he said with a sigh in his voice, "You probably shouldn't have been up and moving so soon after coming out of a coma."

Cassandra gently brushed his hand away. "I don't think so, your hand is just freakishly warm," she tried to deny it. Cassie felt like crap physically and now the emotional side was taking over too.

Conner chuckled at that. A younger version of him would probably take offense to being called freakish in any regard. "I'm part Kryptonian. My kind lived on a planet of ice; our body temperatures run a lot warmer than most humans. You still don't look like you're feeling well though."

Cassandra blinked away sleep from her eyes. "I'll figure it out one way or another, like I always do."

"Is something bothering you?" Conner asked.

Cassie shrugged. "It's all good, don't worry about it," she said before a yawn managed to escape. She flipped through a few more channels before stopping on a movie. A few minutes of silence past and she decided that Conner was done asking questions. Slowly it became harder and harder for her to keep her eyes open until she drifted into sleep.

Conner could tell there was something going on but in his experience, he learned it was better not to pry. He wasn't Black Canary and playing the part of therapist wasn't his specialty. Cassandra's head titled in sleep and she began to slide down the back of the couch until her head stopped rested on his shoulder. Conner didn't move and let her sleep.

* * *

 **I finished YJ Outsiders and I want to bring in the personality of Batman that is willing to do "anything for the mission". I decided to keep the memory loss for Dick. In the beginning of YJ, Robin said that he didn't want to become Batman. He had said, "But that thing, inside of him, the thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission, that's not me". YJ Outsiders starts to pull Grayson closer and closer to being that part of Batman. The lying, the manipulation, the hyperfocus on the mission. It's part of the reason Wally got so pissed because Dick was willing to put Artemis in harms way for the sake of the mission and that's just not Grayson. I want to bring back the old Grayson.**

 **Anyway, I'll try to have another chapter up later today if I can. There will be a bit of a time jump to get the story going :)**


	12. The first mission: part 1

For the sake of this story, Aqualad is mostly going to be AWOL. Maybe we'll say he's off with Blackmanta doing fake evil Aqualad things. It's hard to write for a multitude of YJ characters so I try to limit it a handful of characters so I can give them decent characterization. I have nothing against Aqualad, but his powers are a little harder to write for and I don't know as much about his backstory. Also, I'm sorry for any comic diehards but the timeline will be bent as needed for this story. Right now Tim Drake is Robin and I wanted Damian in the story so Damian is sorta in hero limbo. He's spending time with Bruce but he's not Robin yet.

Young Justice is about to get their first mission as a new team. To keep the chapter from being super long, I broke it up into 2 parts. Part 2 will be up soon :)

 **Also, huge shoutout and thank you to those who reviewed recently: Asilla, FireShifter** **, Mihasel** **, 14Fanfiction14 ! I appreciate it so much, reviews really make my day 😊**

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **April 13th, 2018 9:00am**

A month had passed and although Dick's physical injuries had healed, he still could not retrieve his lost memories. What surprised him the most was how much the people around him had changed. Roy's attitude around senior heroes above Young Justice shifted from bitter resentment to mutual respect. Wally and Artemis spent more time in their civilian lives than hero lives causing whispering rumors of an early retirement soon. Just one week ago M'gann had decided to go back to Mars to spend time with her sisters with an indefinite return date to Earth. Dick found it hard to believe the same M'gann who was once a bubbly teenager overjoyed to call Earth her home would return back to Mars. And somehow Superboy seemed to be the most levelheaded member of Young Justice. Well, most days he was when Roy wasn't pushing his patience.

And then there was Bruce. Nightwing stopped punching the hanging punching bag in the training room of Mount Justice as his train of thought drifted.

 _This morning Dick had witnessed Bruce sitting down to breakfast with Damian and Tim. Bruce had his usual newspaper and cup of coffee in front of him, every so often peering over the top of the newspaper to ensure Tim and Damian were finishing their breakfast in a timely manner in order to get to school on time. Alfred had even allowed Tim to eat the colorful, sugar loaded cereal that he liked so much. Damian on the other hand was gouging out the insides of a grapefruit next to a plate of half eaten toast._

" _Tim, did you finish your book report last night?" Bruce asked without looking up from the paper just yet._

 _Tim swallowed a bite of cereal before answering, "Well of course. I have to give a verbal summary in front of the entire class. There's no way I was going to try to wing that."_

 _Bruce gave an approving nod, whether Tim could see it or not. "Damian, what are your goals for today?"_

 _Damian temporarily ceased his attack on the grapefruit. "I will not assault my classmates…no matter how annoying or incompetent they are," he said with an air of annoyance._

 _Bruce lowered the paper just low enough for Dick to see what almost looked like a lopsided grin. "Anything else?"_

 _Damian nearly rolled his eyes. "I will walk down the stairs in the hallway and not jump down them," he answered, then huffed under his breath, "Even if jumping is faster."_

 _Bruce took a long, approving sip of his coffee. "Sounds like we'll all have our work cut out for us today."_

Dick continued a round of quick jabs at the punching bag. If he wasn't mistaken, it would appear Bruce was enjoying his role as a fatherly figure. Wally made it seem like Dick wasn't on good terms with Bruce. Sure, they had their ups and downs, but they always found a way to reconcile. He wondered what could have happened in the past year between Bruce and himself. There wouldn't be much time to contemplate that question as the other members of Young Justice slowly started to trickle into the training room.

Black Canary wanted one more training session with the newly arranged Young Justice team before they were sent on a real mission together. To start, Black Canary paired them off into groups to spare; Red Arrow against Kid Flash, Artemis against Nightwing, and Superboy against Cassandra. While each started to spare, Black Canary silently paced around the room to watch.

"Are you sure you're ready to get back into the game?" Artemis asked as she and Nightwing circled each other, eyes locked on any sudden movements.

Nightwing grinned, "More than ready. I'm about to go crazy if I have to stay one more day at Mount Justice without the promise of a mission," he answered before making the first strike.

"Remember your short, quick movements we practiced," Black Canary instructed as she watched the pairs spare.

On the other side of the room, Superboy and Cassandra got ready to begin their sparring match.

"What time did you get back to the mountain last night?" Superboy asked.

"What do you mean?" Cassandra deflected as she got into a fighting stance.

"I mean," Superboy got into a defensive stance, "You've been leaving Mount Justice a lot in the past month."

"We're supposed to be sparring, not talking," Cassandra tried to get Superboy to stop asking so many questions. She took two large steps forward until she was within arm's length of Superboy and took the first swing of a punch.

Superboy put his hand out and easily caught the punch. "It was a simple question; I can't be the only one who has noticed you come and go a lot."

Cassandra jerked her arm back, forcing Superboy's arm and shoulder down towards the ground. She kept him pinned by the shoulder and hissed, "If you have a problem with it, take it up with Batman. He's been giving me side missions to help get me ready to work with the team."

Superboy easily rolled over to the side to escape the pin down. He didn't know where Cassandra's poor temper came from out of nowhere.

"Switch partners!" Black Canary called out. "Superboy against Nightwing, Artemis against Kid Flash, Cassandra against Red Arrow."

"Great," Cassandra mumbled under her breath. Just who she wanted to go up against.

She wasn't on top of her game today and with how sore she was from her training sessions with Deathstroke, Red Arrow might actually have a chance at beating her in a sparring match and Cassie just wasn't willing to let him have that.

Red Arrow bounced lightly on the balls of his feet and a cunning smile on his face. "Ready for that rematch? Oh come on, what's wrong, afraid you won't be able to land a hit?"

"Shut up, Harper," Cassandra taunted back before leaping at him with a wide swinging right hook. Red Arrow ducked under the swing, sprung up, and jabbed a quick punch at the bottom of her right ribs.

"Short, quick movements!" Black Canary said with a sigh after seeing Cassandra's initial attack.

Cassandra winced at the hit to her ribs; ribs that had recently been mercilessly bruised by Deathstroke. Her movements felt sloppy and slow as she tried to keep up with Red Arrow. Each hit he landed pushed her further back towards the corner of the sparring mat. To make matters worse, each attack Cassandra failed to block only boosted his confidence.

With the timing just right, Red Arrow turned around with a backspin kick in the same spot on her ribs. Cassandra lost her balance and fell backward onto the edge of the mat from the powerful kick. She went down flat on her back and a shockwave of pain radiated out from her side, prompting her to suck in a breath of air which turned out to be a mistake; the wave of pain was so strong she had to grit her teeth. Cassandra knew the skin above her right ribs was already black and blue with bruising from a beating she had received from Slade but she hadn't considered it could get worse.

The sharp pain she felt convinced her that her bruised ribs were now fractured or broken thanks to the kick Red Arrow landed. Around her she heard someone say something, but her focus was only on trying to breath without feeling pain. Every time her lungs expanded to take in more air, the pain increased.

"I didn't even kick her that hard, she's just being a sore loser because I won the sparring match," Red Arrow griped.

Her ribs were already in a delicate state, it didn't take much to push the injury further. She mentally cursed herself for not taping up her ribs, even though the medical tape probably wouldn't have prevented this.

Black Canary came over and offered her hand to help Cassandra back up to her feet.

"I'm fine!" Cassandra snapped and then winced in pain. She gritted her teeth and tried to control her breathing as she got up to her feet on her own. Her hand instinctively went to her right side. "I just need a minute, okay?" she said as she was already walking across the training room towards the door.

Red Arrow's face held an expression of confusion and once she was out of the room, he said, "Really, I didn't kick her that hard. I was sparring like I would with any one of you, honest."

Nightwing shook his head. "I thought she was past these outbursts of anger. I'll go talk to her."

Before Cassandra could get very far and before Nightwing could catch up with her, she crossed paths with Batman who instructed she follow him to the artillery range training room to talk. This room at Mount Justice in particular was padded with soundproof walls.

"What information have you gathered?" Batman asked for an update.

Cassandra ignored the throbbing pain in her side. As long as she took shallow breaths, it didn't hurt as bad. Mind over matter, just don't think about it.

"Slade has managed to bribe the League of Shadows to keep the Talons at bay. I don't know what he offered them but it must have been pretty good to get them to cooperate and retaliate against the Court of Owls. That protection will only last so long, sooner or later someone will stop being so cooperative. Slade is starting to get restless; he's waited too long for Nightwing to be his apprentice once and for all. He knows Dick wouldn't willfully agree to join him, I believe he's looking for something to blackmail or extort him with. Trust me, if there's something out there for him to use, Slade will find it. Anyone and everyone close to Dick better watch their backs."

"Are you injured?" Batman followed up.

Cassandra scowled at him. "Does it matter? Deathstroke has one hell of a temper but you already know that. Or are you worried I'll start slacking at my job?"

"You need to control _your temper_ ," he warned. That really did it, now Cassandra could feel her emotions boiling up to the surface.

Nightwing had been wandering the halls trying to figure out where Cass had gone when he finally spotted her through the small window opening on the door to the artillery training room. He stayed out of the line of sight and watched Cassandra interacting with Batman. He couldn't hear anything, but Dick was quite skilled in reading lips. That is, he could usually read lips when people weren't yelling. It wasn't hard to read what people were saying when they were talking, but when yelling was involved, it was much harder to make out words.

"I wouldn't have a temper if I wasn't stuck in this situation _you_ put me in! I don't like having to lie about where I've been or whose side I'm on! This whole situation is going to blow up in our faces and I'm going to be the one dealing with the backlash! You are so blindsided you can't even see why this is wrong!" Cassandra shouted, her hand at her side clenching into a fist.

Nightwing concentrated as best he could to make out what they were saying but most of it couldn't be interpreted. When Cassandra finally stopped yelling, the one sentence he could make out by reading her lips was her saying to Batman, "I know you want to protect him, and I do too, but this isn't the way to do it."

Nightwing could deduce that Cassandra must be talking about protecting him, but what was Batman's involvement and what exactly was going on that would get Cassandra so angry? He wished Cassandra would stop trying to protect him; he didn't want anyone in that position. When he saw Batman and Cassandra heading back towards the door, Nightwing quickly slipped around the corner and went back to the training room.

"Go back to the training room," Batman ordered Cassandra. "For now, your priority is assimilating into Young Justice. The first mission that gets received by The Justice League today will be transferred to Young Justice. They all need to see that you are capable of working with a team. Return to the training room without your hostile temper or you will not be included in any future Young Justice missions."

Cassandra mulled over his words. She knew she had to stay with Young Justice to protect Nightwing. She gave a curt nod and turned away so he couldn't see the hurt in her eyes, then continued on back to the training room.

Black Canary didn't look angry as Cassandra expected when she returned to the training room. "I'm sorry," Cassandra apologized as she approached, "I got the wind knocked out of me." She looked over to Speedy and saw he had looked up when she came in. "Red Arrow has got one hell of a quick kick. He definitely won that round," she paid him a compliment.

Red Arrow took note of a few things: This was the first time she had called him properly by his hero name. Not Speedy, Harper, or Arrow Boy like she had mocked in the past. The second thing he noticed was the forced smile on her face. He couldn't tell if it was there because she was only pretending she wanted to come back to training or if she was hiding pain. There was something that wasn't quite right about her and Roy was going to figure out what.

Black Canary brought everyone back together and began to explain the set of drills they were going to practice. "This is to help you work together as a team. These practice drills can be utilized in real situations. I'll teach you five different formations of attack that focus on a unique angles. Ready?"

At first it was hard to Black Canary to direct them through the drills. Their attacks needed to be coordinated just right; fighters such as Nightwing couldn't be attacking at close range while long range fighters such as Red Arrow were trying to attack. They quickly learned not to cross projectiles simultaneously. Cassandra had to learn to trust her fellow heroes would fulfill their role even though she was used to being the one in control and fighting alone.

After a few hours, they were working together like a real team should.

"Congratulations team, I'd say you're ready for a real mission," Black Canary concluded the training for the day.

"There's just one problem," Red Arrow interjected.

Kid Flash groaned, "Oh come on man, that was a great training session. Can't you just leave it on a good note?"

Red Arrow shook his head. "It's nothing like that. The problem is that Cassandra needs a hero name. I expect at some point she'll want a civilian life outside of Young Justice so…" he trailed as he finished making his point.

Cassandra shrugged. "I hadn't thought about that. So how does this work? Do I pick a name out of a hat? Is there a hero name generator online?" she joked.

Red Arrow snorted a laugh. "Oh yeah, sure, something like that. You just go online and type in a description of your hero persona and it magically pulls a name for you. I wonder what yours would be: A very aggressive body guard to the person she has been cloned from all after becoming a renegade to the assassin who trained her as his apprentice."

Cassandra smirked then thought about that. "Huh, Renegade. That one could work."


	13. The first mission: part 2

Alrighty, here's part 2. Young Justice finally gets to go on a mission together. Between this chapter and part 1, I've been dropping a lot of small little hints of things to come. Next chapter will get more Deathstroke/Slade time. Secrets will come to light, betrayals will ensue. I'll have a grand old time creating drama.

Thank you again so much to anyone and everyone reading and reviewing!

* * *

 **Mount Justice**

 **April 13th, 2018 4:49pm**

Batman stood in front of the tv monitor getting ready to brief the team on their first mission. "Gotham PD just reported that the Joker has taken over a cruise ship passing through Gotham harbor. The passengers are being held hostage, but no demands have been made. We've made communication with the captain over radio and he reports the Joker told the passengers there's a bomb on the ship. The bomb squad is on standby awaiting our signal. I want Young Justice to reduce any casualties."

"Has the bomb been found? How do we know it's not a bluff?" Artemis asked.

Nightwing shook his head, "No, anything the Joker says should be taken seriously. He doesn't bluff. Part of his game is causing panic and he'll only reveal his plan if he's feeling confident we won't be able to stop him in time."

"Nightwing is correct, take all threats seriously."

"So," Kid Flash said, staring up at the screen, "Who's taking point on this mission?"

Everyone in the group looked around at each other, and then to Nightwing. He usually was the one to take lead, but he looked away from their eye contact.

"For this mission, Nightwing will take lead. He knows the Joker and Gotham best. After this mission we will reevaluate an official leader of the new Young Justice."

"We better get moving then," Nightwing said. He felt uneasy about being picked to lead the mission. He might not remember much about going solo, but he didn't feel confident about being in charge once more. The team dynamic was different; _he_ was different. Was he still the same Nightwing his teammates could trust?

Young Justice was transported by helicopter directly above the cruise ship. Five men from Gotham Bomb Squad were also aboard.

"You have thirty minutes. Try to get as many passengers to the safe hold or onto lifeboats as possible. Send one of your guys to turn the ship around. Regardless if you're successful in this or not, we're dropping down in thirty minutes to take over. Do as much as you can to get civilians to safety. We've been in situations like this before, madmen like the Joker don't always make it possible to disarm the bomb. This could very well be a situation of damage control," the head bomb squad leader spoke.

Nightwing nodded in understanding. "Red Arrow, I want you to try to find the controls and turn the ship towards shore. Artemis, you start at the bottom deck and get passengers to safety. Renegade, you start at the upper levels and do the same. Kid Flash, I want you to search every inch of the place for the bomb. Superboy and I are going to find the Joker. Use your com links to keep each other updated. If anything happens, I want it communicated. And lastly," he said, his attention turned towards Renegade, "we're all going to have each other's backs during this mission. Civilian lives and your teammates are the top priority. As much as I want to see the Joker behind bars again, I'm more concerned with avoiding casualties."

As much as Nightwing wanted to see the Joker put back where he belongs, he wasn't about to risk anyone's life for that. Not everything had to be sacrificed for the mission. That's not how he was about to run this team.

Ropes were sent down from the helicopter and dangled inches from the cruise deck. "Alright team, ready?" Nightwing tried to keep it lighthearted.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Renegade said before taking ahold of one of the ropes. She braced her feet on both sides of the rope and loosened her grip until she began to slide down towards the ship. The others followed suit.

The cruise ship had 4 levels below and 3 levels above deck. Artemis started on the very bottom and planned to work her way up. The only problem was, she hadn't quite figured out what to tell people without making them panic. Panic would just make people scatter and that would really make her job harder to get people to safety.

"Hey everyone, excuse me!" Artemis shouted into the hallway. No response. She started knocking on each individual door until people started to come out. "Can I have everyone's attention; you all need to evacuate to the upper deck. If you could all in an orderly fashion just make your way up the stairs!"

Some people followed directions without question, others hesitated. A woman came out with a toddler in her arms. "What's going on?"

Artemis quickly racked her brain for anything that would get them to listen without complete panic.

"Is the ship sinking!?" A man came bursting out of the room in a panic. "Martha! Martha it's happening! I told you we shouldn't have gone on a ship! I've seen the Titanic!"

Artemis wanted to smack her forehead. "No, no sir it's nothing like that!" she quickly interjected. "There's been a miscalculation in the amount of fuel needed to reach your final destination. The ship is being turned around now to go back to the docks to be refueled. Everything is fine, no need to panic."

"Hey, wait a minute, you're that archer from the Justice team. Why are you here?" another person questioned.

Artemis was really getting aggravated now, did these people want to die? She had to think of something to get these people to follow directions, even if it wasn't true. "The ship will sail quicker if we distribute the weight towards the upper deck. The quicker we get the ship to the dock for refueling, the quicker you can get back to enjoying your cruise. Now please, up the stairs," she prompted. The people seemed to think that one over and then nod. Yeah, that made sense to them. Sure, why not?

She managed to get that group up to the main deck and then had to do the same thing three more times.

* * *

Kid Flash was starting to get nervous. Five minutes had gone by and he had already searched the upper level at superspeed. No bomb. He searched the main deck now; looking under tables, chairs, umbrellas, luggage, and yet no luck. Knowing the Joker, a bomb would be disguised as a normal object. He wouldn't make it obvious.

He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the sounds around him. Maybe he could hear where it was at. But people were starting to crowd the main deck now and he didn't even know if the bomb had been activated yet. What if there wasn't a count down? What if the Joker was waiting somewhere with a trigger that would set it off immediately? This wasn't good. He thought about Artemis and didn't like being away from her.

Wally trusted that Dick would keep the team safe, but with each mission, he worried more about what the future held for him. What would his life be like if he kept going on dangerous missions? What would life be like for Artemis? He wanted more than the hero life; he wanted a home, a wife, and a family. The panic he felt in this moment was just a reminder that every time he went on a mission, he put those dreams at risk.

* * *

Superboy and Nightwing were currently looking over the blueprints of the ship layout. If Nightwing were the Joker, where would he be? His eyes scanned the page frantically. That's when he saw it.

"Third level below deck, there's a surveillance room. I'd bet the Joker is having a grand old time watching everything erupt into chaos," Nightwing jabbed a finger onto the spot on the blueprints.

They rushed down to that level and Nightwing stood back as Superboy charged at the door and broke it down. There, sitting in a chair with his legs crossed and a cup of tea in hand, the Joker looked up with a grin.

"Took you long enough! Although, my shows are on and you're interrupting," he said, looking back at the wide spread of monitors. Each screen showed a different part of the ship from the captain's lookout to the bottom rooms of the ship.

"Where's the bomb, Joker?" Nightwing wasted no time.

The Joker stood up from his seat and set his tea down. "My my, little bird. You've been away from Gotham so long you've forgotten how we play our little games. I can't simply tell you all the answers, where's the fun in that?" he cackled a disturbing laugh. "I hear there's another little birdy in the bat's cage now, when do I get to meet her?"

Superboy looked like he was ready to throw punches but he was waiting on Nightwing's lead.

Nightwing took a menacing step forward. "Joker…" he warned.

"Fine, fine, I'll give you a hint! The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The harder you try to save the passengers of this ship, the more danger you put them in!"

Nightwing closed the distance and grabbed the Joker by the collar. "What does that mean," he snarled in the Joker's face.

 _Red Arrow to Nightwing, we have a situation. The captain is dead and the controls to the ship are all electronic. I've tried to get into the system to turn the ship around but it's beyond my level of hacking._

Nightwing cursed at the timing. He was the only one that could hack the system. "Superboy, make sure the Joker doesn't go anywhere. See if you can get any answers out of him," he said, giving the Joker a shove forward as he released him.

"Gladly," Superboy responded as Nightwing exited the room.

* * *

Renegade was in the process of rounding up the passengers from the top half of the ship. No one seemed to pay attention until she got an idea.

"Hellooooo passengers, we've got an exciting surprise for you this evening. One of you will be the lucky winner of a $10,000 gift card. That's right folks, $10,000! Here's the catch, you need to enter our raffle on the main deck to win. So follow me if you'd like to be entered! But you have to hurry, the raffle starts in five minutes. If you're not there, you're not qualified to win!"

She managed to get the passengers to the main deck and saw that Artemis was successful in getting the passengers as well.

"Why hasn't the ship been—" Artemis began to ask before there was a sudden lurch as the ship began to turn. Renegade braced herself against the ship railing.

"I don't know how much time we have to get these people to safety, worst case scenario we have them put on life jackets and jump ship. But that's a last resort, the water is too cold," Renegade said.

"I'll go see what I can find, get the passengers ready to board the lifeboats," Artemis said back before leaving.

It wasn't long before Red Arrow found Renegade. "I tried to turn the ship around, but it was all electronic and I couldn't hack in. Looks like Nightwing must have just gotten in now. Where are we at with the lifeboats?"

"There are lifeboats on this side of the railing," Renegade pointed out, leaning against the railing and looking down. "Now we just need to find the controls that raise and lower them."

She knew they needed to hurry. Although the ship was turned around and heading back towards shore, people were starting to panic. Multiple times she had to stop passengers from diving off the ship thinking it was safer to try to swim to shore. It may not be far, but if only they knew how cold the water was during this time of year; the risk of dying from hypothermia was far greater than the risk of being attacked on the ship. They weren't at that point of last resort…yet.

"Hey, I think I found it!" Red Arrow called out. Further down the ship and integrated into the metal of the railings was a control panel.

Renegade jogged down to get a better look. "Great, do you know how to work it?" she asked. There were a lot of buttons and levers on it. She studied it closely.

"How hard could it be?" Red Arrow asked while taking hold of one of the levers and pulling it forward. One of the lifeboats started to ascend up towards the deck. "See, easy."

Renegade saw it before he did; there was a blinking red light coming from under the control panel. She noticed it begin to blink the moment after Red Arrow had pushed the lever forward. The blinking had started slow, blink…blink…blink, but now its speed was increasing. Her heart lurched in her chest when she realized what it meant.

"MOVE!" she shouted as she pushed him with as much force as she could to send him away from the panel.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The first explosion went off, throwing Renegade over the railing from the sheer force of the explosion. Red Arrow didn't have much time to react and felt himself slide across the deck floor. When he looked up, there was a large cloud of smoke and the splashing sound from pieces of metal railing falling down from the explosion.

"Renegade!" he shouted but couldn't see past the wall of smoke.

Then a second explosion erupted, a third, and finally a fourth. The whole ship seemed to rock with the force of the explosion. The source of the explosions was coming from what used to be the lifeboats. Had they gotten the passengers into them, many lives would have been lost.

Renegade lost consciousness as she fell towards the water. The icy cold water jolted her senses back into her but she felt incredibly disoriented. Her ears were ringing and she couldn't tell which way was up or down. All the murky water around her looked the same, felt the same. In that moment, it was like time was at a standstill. She spread her arms out in an attempt to swim upward but her movements were like wading through sludge. Why did she feel so slow? Her limbs already felt heavy from the numbing cold. She tried harder to swim upward, anything to get herself closer to the surface for the air her lungs were desperately gasping for.

How far down had she gotten? There was less light entering from the surface. She knew she couldn't hold her breath much longer. With one last attempt to swim up, Cassandra kicked at the water around her but didn't go up enough. Maybe this was okay. The others would take care of Nightwing. He had his friends and family. Her only purpose, after all, was to protect him. She managed to save him from Bane when no one else could arrive quick enough. Perhaps, her life's purpose had been fulfilled. And just when she finally knew what it was like to be part of a team, she thought darkly. To think she saved the life of the team member that probably hated her the most in the beginning. The corners of her vision began to dim, and soon it was hard to see even the small amount of light that entered through the water. Ever so slightly, she could see the black outline of a figure swimming towards her. Closer and closer the figure came but it felt like they never came close enough. Cassandra accepted her fate and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Come on! Not today! It's not your time yet!" Superboy begged in a low throaty growl. The ship had made it to shore but no one knew where Renegade was. They began searching and that's when Superboy found her unconscious near the shoreline. Her skin had gone pale and her lips a tint of blue. "Come on!"

With a gurgling cough, Renegade rolled to her side and began sputtering water to clear room for air in her lungs. She shifted to her back and looked up at an alarmed Superboy. It took her a moment to realize she was alive. How?

Every nerve in her body suddenly felt ablaze with a painful pins and needles sensation followed by uncontrollable shaking. "H-hey s-supey."

"We need to get you to a hospital," he urged. He slid his hand under her back and helped her sit upright. He could feel how much she was shaking.

"I'm-m fine, just n-need to w-warm-m up a tad," she pushed aside the idea of a hospital. His hand felt so warm against her back. Before she could try to convince him otherwise, Superboy scooped her up into his arms bridal style.

"A hospital would be quicker than going back to the med bay," he reasoned as he started to walk towards the group in the distance. Her face was pressed against his chest, he held her close but had a gentle grip.

"You're so warm," Renegade mumbled as she nuzzled her face closer against Superboy. She still couldn't tell if this was real or all a dream. That didn't stop the creeping red blush that was spreading across Superboy's face.

He chuckled though and continued walking. "Like I said before, Kryptonian blood runs warm." The shapes of people in the distant were becoming clearer now. Her tiny fist held onto a handful of his shirt; did she think he would drop her? He hadn't noticed before just how small she was. Nightwing was on the shorter side of average height but Superboy never thought much of it because most gymnasts were. Being his clone and female, it made sense that she also had a small frame.

Renegade's eyes fluttered. "I don't think I can stay awake much longer."

Panic spanned across his face. "Hold on, don't close your eyes yet." He didn't know if she had a concussion or any other injuries. He needed to keep her awake and talking.

"But I'm so tired, and you're so warm. Everything is warm now," she garbled.

"C'mon Cassie, don't you want to see the look on Red Arrow's face? You saved his life, he owes you one," Superboy continued talking. Kid Flash spotted him and waved his arms to get Superboy's attention.

Renegade closed her eyes but continued talking, "Now that's a sight worth living to see. Do Kryptonians dry super quick too? You don't have a drop of water on you."

Superboy seemed confused but answered, "I didn't go in the water."

Renegade opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You didn't pull me out of the water?"

He shook his head. "I found you on the shore. The current must have brought you to shore. You really caught a lucky break."

An icy chill returned to Renegade. Superboy wasn't the figure in the water? Then who? She had a feeling she might know, causing her to shake more.

"Oh thank god everyone is alive," Kid Flash said with a sigh of relief when Superboy reached the group. Everyone looked a bit roughed up and Red Arrow avoided making eye contact. "That would not be a good start to Young Justice 2.0 if we already lost a member."

"Let's get back to the mountain, before Cassie starts looking any paler," Superboy added.


End file.
